Stoping, or production mining, would have been carried out almost exclusively by Tributers, (reference Methods of Payment) in Wheal Agar.  There were exceptions in the Cost Book where a small amount of stoping was done by shaft sinkers and in some of the drives, probably on the orders of a mine captain.  These men received an amount averaging £4.00 per square fathom, and the net earnings for tut workers doing stoping work amounted to £326 during the life of the Cost Book.

Whereas the tut workers are shown working specific locations (such as 50 fathom level east from Windstraw) there are no such indications for the tributers. All we know is that the stopes would have been in those areas which had been developed by drives and winzes.  In 1856 this would have been in Dobree's lode under the 38 fathom level, and between the 30 and 40 fathom levels west of Windstraw shaft.  During 1857 and 1858 and probably into 1859 the production stopes would have been between the 40 and 50 fathom levels.

During the last year of the Cost Book there are no records of any new winzes so presumably production was continuing from the stopes already developed in the previous two years.

The stoping method was probably underhand stoping but there is no confirmation of this in the Cost Book.  In this type of stoping the ore is mined in steps from the top of a winze, the broken ore falling down to the level below if the lode is steep enough, and from there being taken by wheel barrow or wagon to the shaft for transfer to a kibble or skip and hauled to surface.

The sketch below shows:-

 1 the stope in an early phase and the broken ore passing through a central winze

 2 the stope in an advanced stage. Stulls are used for support if required in the open stope, and can also be used for storage of waste rock.  On the bottom right of the sketch is a cross section through the stope.

Every second month there is an entry in the Cost Book showing 'Tribute amount per Tribute book', or 'Tributer's ores per tribute book' for the copper ores, but unfortunately the tribute rate is never specified.  The tin entries are much less frequent but the rates are shown, and vary between ten shillings and fifteen shillings in the pound, i.e. from 50% to 75% of the value.  A typical entry for tin in the month of September 1857 reads:
'John Bohenna & Co.  Tin raised by him £4.16.6 @ 12/- in the £', which gave him a total of £2.17.10.

The table below is a summary of yearly earnings by all tributers. [A more detailed analysis is given in my book., 'Study of a Mine Cost Book'.]

	Copper				Tin
Year	Total Amount Earned        £	Net Earnings after deductions    £		Value of     Tin                   £	Total Amount Earned        £	Net Earnings after deductions         £
1855 October - December	105.99	84.90		22.52	13.27	8.65
1856 January - December	390.00	326.58		1.05	0.70	0.70
1857 January - December	317.09	285.12		15.36	9.26	7.95
1858 January - December	393.41	344.25		26.16	16.78	13.21
1859 January - November	215.50	193.17		120.24	89.77	89.77
Total	1421.99	1234.02		185.33	129.78	120.28

 The tribute workers at Wheal Agar almost invariably lived on subsist, which was a custom of advancing credit for the following month by the amount earned for the present month.

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