were invented in 1815 by the Cornish engineer Richard Trevithick (who also invented the first steamroad locomotive). Today The Copper Mine is a protected site and tourist attraction. However, it is in a perilous state, and sits in a position which is particularly exposed to hurricanes. The Copper Mine Committee, in cooperation with the National Parks Trust of the British Virgin Islands, has undertaken to reconstruct the site using the footprint of the buildings and plans developed by archaeologists familiar with the work of these Cornish miners and their engineers. However, such plans have not been implemented. Minerals Notwithstanding the abandoning of the mine, rich veins of copper are still visible on the point today, although not remotely in the quantities which would make modern commercial mining economic. Also, lying loosely around the site are various other rock specimens, including malachite, carbonate of copper; quartz containing copper-iron sulfide; and molybdenite. It has been suggested that a local cottage industry could have started making semiprecious jewellery. Ruins in the British Virgin Islands History of the British Virgin Islands Copper mines in the British Virgin Islands Cornish diaspora Virgin Gorda