RIO TINTO MINING AREA

Arising out of the midst of the surrounding greenery, the giant opencast mines of Rio Tinto create a surreal, almost lunar landscape. The removal of layer upon layer of soil and rock, in the search for iron ore, copper, silver and a host of other mineral ores, has tinted this part of the world in hues of dusty pink, brown, yellow, red and grey. So great is the scale of operations, that the depression created resembles a man-made crater that measures several kilometres across. From the edge of the 'crater', a giant space opens up before you.
Walls of terraced rock, streaked with the unusual colours of mineral ores create the impression of a natural amphitheatre of gargantuan proportions that could easily be mistaken for the set of a Star Wars movie.
Rio Tinto is, however, more than an isolated cavity on the earth's surface. Its growth has consumed not only mountains and valleys but even entire villages, whose populations had to be resettled in specially built towns nearby. Named after the river which flows through the region-itself named for the reddish streaks that colour its water - Rio Tinto has become a landscape within a landscape. The unearthed minerals give the soil and waters of the region odd, otherworldly shades of blue, green, yellow, red and brown, so it is not unusual to see bright orange or green rivulets trickling past. The predominant ores, however, are the ferrous ones, which oxidise when they come into contact with the air and colour land and river alike in shades of reddish brown.
HISTORY

According to myth, Rio Tinto is the fabled mines of King Solomon, and a section of the area is still known as Cerro Salomón today. Tales of the Iberian Peninsula's mineral wealth that drew Phoenician merchants to its shores, followed by a succession of Greek, Carthaginian and Roman invasions. The Rio Tinto mines were worked so intensively by the Romans they were among the most prized rewards that control of Iberia yielded. .
The mines were rediscovered in 1556 but it was not until 1724 the mines were reopened. Frustration, under investment, corruption and inefficiency dogged their exploitation when they were run by either the state or a series of entrepenueral lease holders. The ore was transported to port of Seville by mule and cart. Fed up with this situation, the Spanish government decided to sell the mines
RIO TINTO COMPANY LTD

The mines were bought at auction at auction on 14 February 1873 by a British syndicate led by Hugh Matheson's Matheson and Company, which ultimately formed a syndicate consisting of Deutsche Bank (56% ownership), Matheson (24%), and railway firm Clark, Punchard and Company (20%) The winning bid was 92 million pesetas ( £ 3,680,000) a price later determined to be well below their real value. Especially since the bid specified that Spain permanently relinquish any right to claim royalties on the mine's production. The syndicate launched the Rio Tinto Company, registering it on 29 March 1873. At the end of the 1880s, control of the company was passed to the Rothschild family, who greatly increased the scale of its mining operations.

NATIONIALISED
After difficulties during the Spanish civil war, the second world war and General Francos nationalist polocies the Rio Tinto Mining Company sold two thirds of its shares in 1954 (and the rest a few years later) The mines were taken over by Compañía Española de Minas de Riotinto, later Unión de Explosivos Riotinto, Riotinto Patiño, Riotinto Minera and lastly Minas de Riotinto S.A.L. Due to the falling price of minerals the mines were closed in 2001.
MINING TODAY
EMED Tartessus a Spanish company owned by the multinational EMED Mining is restablishiing mining activity in Riotinto. In 2014 preparatory works begain with earth moving machinery operative again. On the 17th April 2015 the earth shook in Rio Tinto for the first time in 14 years at the company used 6.500 tonne of explosive to remove 28.000 tonne of sterile rock.