The mines at Cwmystwyth are typical of mine workings spread across much of mid Wales in the 19th century. Cwmystwyth was mined principally for lead, but silver and nickel were also profitable by products of the mine workings. The mines are now deserted and the once huge poulation of such villages as Cwmystwyth have shrunk dramatically so that mid Wales is one of the few places in europe which has a smaller population now then it did a hundred years ago.