Page images
PDF
EPUB

COPPER.

CORNWALL.

"WHAT are those mules carrying, papa? And whither are they going?"

"They are carrying copper-ore to the sea-side, that it may be shipped to Swansea, in Wales, where it will be smelted, as there are no coals in Cornwall; and mules are chosen to carry the copper instead of horses, because, as the road is steep, and the load heavy, it is of importance to choose those beasts of burthen which are most sure-footed."

"Having seen the tin-mines of Cornwall," continued Mr. Thompson, "we may now as well look at its copper-mines; as Cornwall is famous for that mineral, as well as for its tin."

[merged small][merged small][merged small][graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

and the latter killas.

Grouan is a word also used

in Cornwall to signify a kind of gravel, formed by small pieces of broken granite mixed with the surface of the soil. Copper is likewise found in the veins of porphyry (called by the miners elvan), and when thus situated, the mineral vein is frequently intersected by a small vein of clay, called by the miners a fuckan. The great copper-mine of Carharack in the parish of Gwenap, has two intersections; one called Steven's fluckan, which runs from north-east to north-west, and

[merged small][merged small][graphic]

Copper veins running through Porphyry or Elvan, and intersected by a
fluckan or vein of clay.

throws the mineral vein several fathoms out on one

side; and the other which runs nearly at right

angles with the first, and throws it out several fathoms on the other side.

The fall of the vein occurs,

therefore, in one case to the right, and the other to the left; and one portion appears to have risen, while the other has sunk.

The mineral veins fre

quently vary very much in

[ocr errors]

Ex

Course of Metallic veins. planation of the names of Metallic veins in Cornwall.

1. Rake.

5. Lifted or

2. Pipe-veins. heaved. 3. Floors. 6. Started. 4. To take horse.

F

[blocks in formation]

form; that which is called the rake vein being

the most common.

When a mineral vein runs

through feldspar, it frequently divides into nu

3

3

merous small veins,

[blocks in formation]

Progress of a shaft worked at several periods with horse-whim for drawing up the ore. Ex

to make the shaft

planation of the section showing the mode of perpendicular, so

working a copper vein.

1. Shaft.
2. Mineral vein.

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

vein only at one place; and then to form cross cuts, or galleries, from the vein to the shaft, at regular distances, so as to obtain the whole of the ore, which is conveyed in barrows, or in some other manner, to the shaft.

[graphic]

A Whim, or machine to draw ores and rubbish out of the mine by horses.

In Cornwall the ore is generally drawn up by a machine called a whim, which is worked by horses; but sometimes the ore and the rubbish

« PreviousContinue »