September Mining Sundowner and SW England's strategic minerals hub

A fine autumn evening yesterday for the September Cornish Mining Sundowner at Falmouth's Chain Locker. Although a modest turnout, it was an interesting one, with two former CSM Associates secretaries, past and current presidents of the Camborne School of Mines Student Union, one "fresher" and Sam Wood, all the way from Buxton in Derbyshire to celebrate 50 years to the day that he began his student years at CSM. I was one of his lecturers and as far as we know only one of two still alive! 

It has been an exciting few months for critical minerals in South-West England, and particularly for the old mining districts of Cornwall and Devon. The most dramatic development came last month, when the UK National Wealth Fund announced an investment of up to £71 million in Tungsten West to help restart the Hemerdon tungsten and tin mine near Plymouth in Devon. The package includes £36 million of equity and up to £35 million of debt, while the Government will have the right to secure up to half of the mine’s annual tungsten production. With tungsten now firmly recognised as a strategic mineral, and China dominating global supply, the decision is a significant indication of how seriously the UK Government is now taking domestic mineral resources.

This is particularly interesting when viewed alongside developments further west in Cornwall. At South Crofty, near Camborne, Cornish Metals continues to advance its plans for a return to tin production, following further National Wealth Fund support announced in May. Lithium developments are also progressing, with Cornish Lithium's projects seeking to demonstrate that lithium can be extracted from the region's granites and geothermal waters using innovative, lower-impact processes. The Government's new Critical Minerals Strategy specifically highlights Cornwall's work on Direct Lithium Extraction and the potential to combine lithium recovery with geothermal energy.

The really significant change is therefore not simply that individual projects are progressing, but that Cornwall and Devon are increasingly being viewed as a strategic UK mineral province. Tin, tungsten and lithium all feature prominently in the Government's critical minerals thinking, while the region is also developing expertise in processing, recycling, geothermal energy and other parts of the supply chain. The South-West has always had the geology; what has been lacking in recent decades has been the investment and confidence to turn that geological potential into operating mines and supply chains. The events of 2026 suggest that this may finally be changing.

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