Tavistock: grid reference SX454697

Situated at Morwellham Quay just northeast of Calstock on the east bank of the River Tamar near Tavistock. Formerly known as Wheal Providence, the mine commenced working in 1718. It was renamed as the George and Charlotte Mine in honour of King George III and his wife Queen Charlotte. The mine extracted copper ore from eight levels for no less than 150 years, however its reserves were worked out by 1868 and so it was abandoned. There was a rumour at the time that a vast copper lode was found in the 'Devils Kitchen' part of the mine just prior to closure, but this has not been proven.

Along with William and Mary Mine to the east, George and Charlotte Mine made up Devon and Cornwall United Mines at Morwellham Quay, west of Tavistock. About 100 fathoms of untried ground separates the mines. Output from 1852-69 was 16,595 tons copper ore and 110 tons of Pyrite.

The mine worked Main Lode via three adits and its six main shafts were Ley's Shaft, Emily Shaft, Crosscourse Shaft, Whim Shaft, Engine Shaft and Footway Shaft.

Today the George and Charlotte Mine is part of the Morwellham Quay experience and is open to visitors who are taken on an electrically driven tram ride deep into its interior via the 'Deep Adit' level, eventually emerging into daylight from another mine entrance then travelling back along bank of the Tamar River. Inside the mine visitors are able to clearly see visible copper ore seams and even a fully working water wheel used to pump water from the lower levels. The George & Charlotte copper mine, is unique as the only open copper mine in Britain and made accessible to the public by a riverside railway.

Historian Townshend M. Hall in his Mineralogist's directory - A guide to the principal mineral localities of Great Britain and Ireland of 1868, stated that the mine exhibited the following minerals: Bismuthine, Childrenite and Chlorite.