EXPLORE
Discover the beautiful mineral and mining trails, that run through the heart of the Bissoe Valley and beyond.
Cycling
Walking
running
The Bissoe and Carnon Valley are historically renowned for tin and copper mining. The area has been described as ‘the richest square mile anywhere on earth’, now part of the Cornigh Mining World Heritage Site. After WW2, the arsenic works were closed, the site was derelict until landscaped by Cornwall Wildlife Trust to form a Nature Reserve in 1986. The soil was contaminated due to waste from arsenic refinery, but after intensive conservation work, wildlife flourished and you now find many species here, including the very rare grayling butterfly.
some of the things that are found benith the valley by experts
Blue Formation
Found all over Cornwall from 50-100ft underground.
Cornish Copper Mine
This Cornish Copper Mine dates back to the 1850’s, the levels would have been hand drilled with hammers and drill bits, then the rocks blasted, mucked out by hand using wheelbarrows back to the haulage shaft where it was taken to the surface to dump/process.
Green Mineral
Green Mineral found in the upper part of a Cornish Copper Mine, found around 50ft below surface.
Sources:
Cornish Mine Explorer - Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/CornishMineExplorer/?locale=en_GB
https://cornishlithium.com/company-announcements/cornish-lithium-becomes-a-reserve-guardian-of-the-bissoe-valley-in-support-of-the-cornwall-wildlife-trust/