Peña del Hierro
PEÑA DEL HIERRO MINE
This is a mine which is open to visitors. It is10 km from Minas de Rio Tinto village.
First used by the Romans for silver and sulphur, the part you visit consists of a 200-metre tunnel (mining gallery) called Santa Maria, which you walk along. You can see shafts and galleries where the ores were extracted, an emergency exit in case the lift wasn't working, and chimneys where the steam from the locomotives used to transport minerals escaped. The ceiling is reinforced by beams of eucalyptus and pine (these particular types of wood and very flexible, and creak when they're about to break, warning the miners before the tunnel collapses).
The tunnel comes out on a balcony overlooking a small lake. The 25m-deep lake is, in fact, the crater of the mine, created by the Romans. Along the walls of the crater you can see layers of various colours - yellow, gold, white, grey - where the different mineral ores can be found - mainly used in the production of copper, but also silver and gold.
You can also see the remains of equipment and buildings used to wash, sort and process the minerals mined here, most recently to produce copper, sulphur, iron and lead, before they were loaded onto trains and sent either Huelva, to be exported by ship. The wooden lifts used to extract the minerals are 125 metres deep - the vertical mine was divided into 12 levels. Don't touch the pretty, clear stream of water which flows near the entrance to the mining gallery, as this water is highly acidic and will burn.
Read MoreThis is a mine which is open to visitors. It is10 km from Minas de Rio Tinto village.
First used by the Romans for silver and sulphur, the part you visit consists of a 200-metre tunnel (mining gallery) called Santa Maria, which you walk along. You can see shafts and galleries where the ores were extracted, an emergency exit in case the lift wasn't working, and chimneys where the steam from the locomotives used to transport minerals escaped. The ceiling is reinforced by beams of eucalyptus and pine (these particular types of wood and very flexible, and creak when they're about to break, warning the miners before the tunnel collapses).
The tunnel comes out on a balcony overlooking a small lake. The 25m-deep lake is, in fact, the crater of the mine, created by the Romans. Along the walls of the crater you can see layers of various colours - yellow, gold, white, grey - where the different mineral ores can be found - mainly used in the production of copper, but also silver and gold.
You can also see the remains of equipment and buildings used to wash, sort and process the minerals mined here, most recently to produce copper, sulphur, iron and lead, before they were loaded onto trains and sent either Huelva, to be exported by ship. The wooden lifts used to extract the minerals are 125 metres deep - the vertical mine was divided into 12 levels. Don't touch the pretty, clear stream of water which flows near the entrance to the mining gallery, as this water is highly acidic and will burn.
