In 1820, the Levant Mining Company was formed with a capital of £400, though Levant Mine first appeared on a map in 1748. By 1836, 320 men, 44 women and 186 children were employed on the site. In Levant's first 20 years of business, £170,000 was made from mining copper. New technology was introduced to streamline production, and in 1857 a infamous man engine was installed. This engine, which comprised a moving rod, carried men many fathoms up and down the mine, to and from work each day. Many of the workings extended out under the Atlantic Ocean giving the mine the sobriquet “The Mine Under The Sea”.

On October 29,1919 the “Man Engine” by now the last one working in Cornwall, suffered a structural failure caused by metal fatigue when the link between the engine and rod failed – this resulted in the deaths of 31 men.

Levant Mine closed in 1930.

By the 1960s the adjacent Geevor Mine was seeing new reserves and began a project to pump clear the sea water which had entered the Levant mine workings following closure. This involved sealing a breach on the “Forty Backs”.

This work to facilitate the reworking of Levant involved installing a new head gear, electric winder and ventilation fan at Skip Shaft. The main access to Levant was made via Geevor Mine’s Victory Shaft, however, the ventilation equipment and headgear at Levant Mine was maintained until the closure of Geevor Mine in 1990.

Today the buildings are in the care of the National Trust and beam winding (whim) engine is steamed on a regular basis and demonstrated to visitors.