Pennance Mine lies in the Gwennap Mining District and is situated on the southern slopes of Carn Marth, south of the converted quarry that is now Carn Marth Open Air Theatre. Formerly known as Wheal Amelia, the area was worked by tinners as early as the 17th century. In his 1839 book Report on the Geology of Cornwall, Henry De la Beche describes it as producing copper. Robert Hunt, in his 1857 report the Mineral Statistics of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, described it in the same way.