The ore they contained was in places very soft and loose and the killas was also not a particularly strong rock, necessitating extensive underground timbering, particularly in the shafts.

[2] The mine was sited in the valley of a small stream at the point where it opens out into a natural bowl and is virtually surrounded by hills.

Captain Middleton, the mine manager, reported that within five minutes of it starting to rain, water was flowing down the hills in torrents.

Despite efforts by the men on the surface to dam or divert the water from the shafts the mine was rapidly flooded up to the 50 fathom (300 ft) level, and of the estimated 200 miners who were underground at the time, 39 were drowned.

It is at one end of the Lappa Valley Steam Railway which follows part of the route of one of the Treffry Tramways that was opened in 1849 for hauling ore from the mine to Newquay.