South Crofty is a tin and copper mine at Pool in Cornwall. Tin mining has a four-thousand-year history in the county and work at South Crofty can be traced back to 1592, so the earliest level dates from the Elizabethan era. By the time it closed in March 1998 the mine had reached a depth of four hundred fathoms, nearly half a mile underground. Copper was the main extraction nearer the surface until the reserves were exhausted in 1880; tin then became the principal commodity until the price crash of 1985.