Completion of a conservation project to restore historic buildings at King Edward Mine near Camborne has been given the royal seal of approval with a visit from Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex.

Restoration of the Grade II listed Count House and Carpenters' Shop complexes is the first of two significant projects aimed at securing the long term future of the site and generating employment. Tenants of the new workspaces which now occupy the newly renovated buildings include several local businesses and a charity who have been able to expand their operations as a result of the move to the new workspaces.

On arrival at the mine, the prince was given a tour of the site which features original machinery used to produce tin ore considered to be among the last of its kind in the world and saw the Californian Stamps in action. Used in the production of tin ore, the stamps are over 115-years-old and thought to be the last working example of such stamps in the world. Due to age and historic value, the stamps are only in action for a few minutes each year at the mine's annual open day.

During his visit, His Royal Highness met representatives from site owners Cornwall Council, operators King Edwards Mine Ltd, ERDF Convergence Fund and Historic England as well as Councillor Trevor Chalker, the mayor of Camborne, and tenants from the new workspaces. He also met members of the restoration project team including Trevor Humphreys Associates, Poynton Bradbury Wynter Cole Architects, Ward Williams Associates and Midas Construction Ltd.

The Earl ended his visit by unveiling a plaque commemorating the opening of the workspaces and completion of the conservation project.

Councillor Julian German, Cornwall Council cabinet member for economy and culture, said: "Conserving historic buildings and bringing these back into use is often the only way to ensure their survival and projects such as this preserve important features within the World Heritage Site and provide distinctive and affordable workspaces for local businesses in rural areas. I congratulate the project team on delivering a highly challenging conservation project and am very pleased to see that tenants are already snapping up the workspaces."

Kevin Baker, chair of KEM Ltd, said: “King Edward Mine Museum opened its doors to the public some 15-years-ago, nearly 15 years after a group of mining heritage enthusiasts came together to recreate a working mill complex of the 1900s, similar to the original.

"The Californian Stamps have been in the mill since they were installed here by the Camborne School of Mines after being shown at the Paris Exposition of 1900, and using archive images of what was here originally, volunteers gathered and restored some of the last remaining Cornish mill equipment anywhere left in the world and visitors can now experience these working when they visit. We believe that this is the first visit by any member of the royal family to King Edward Mine, although we believe that the mine was renamed to commemorate the coronation of King Edward VII in 1901. We are therefore very pleased to welcome HRH The Earl of Wessex to King Edward Mine.

“Conserving these two derelict groups of buildings at the top of our site and bringing them back into use as workspaces for local businesses, means that they will continue to survive, maintaining the site’s international significance as the world’s most complete set of tin mining buildings within the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site’s inscribed period. We’re also really keen that these businesses interest different groups of people to come to King Edward Mine and to the new café that we are going to be opening next summer.”

Cornwall Council had secured a grant of £1,126,248 from the ERDF Convergence Programme towards the conservation project.

Tamsin Daniel, Cornwall Council’s culture programme officer, said: "As both complexes are Grade II Listed and the Count House is on Historic England's 'at risk' register, this has been a significant project. And the discovery of a mine shaft under one end of the Count House proved particularly challenging as the walls of the building had to be taken down stone by stone.

"This project has meant we have been able to bring back into use two derelict buildings to create nine new workspaces, enabling local businesses to thrive."

Work to turn a further two buildings on Historic England's Heritage at risk register into a café and exhibition space, as well as conservation work on the site's remaining core buildings, will begin later this year. This second scheme has secured over £1m of Heritage Lottery Funding, as well as £200,000 from the Architectural Heritage Fund’s Buildings at Risk Challenge Fund and smaller grants from trusts and foundations. It is anticipated that the new café and exhibition space will open to the public next summer.