The situation of the Geo-mining heritage in the region of Mur cia a … · 2013. 7. 15. · H eritage, on the other hand, is a value w hich appears w hen the m ining activity ends

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The situation of the Geo-miningheritage in the region of Murciaand mining tourism as asustainable alternative for itsprotection. Regional and nationalCurrent Status/ José Ignacio Manteca Martínez

Abstract

The geo-mining heritage of the Murcia region is in a deplorable state of neglect and disrepair.Though the patrimonial assets have been declared Property of Cultural Interest, this has notmeant in practice an effective protection, and degradation process keeps going on. The experien-ce from others mining districts in Spain and in other European countries, point out that its preser-vation will be impossible unless it comes with a sustainable economic activity which involves thesocial base, as it is the Mining Tourism. Therefore the Autonomous Community of the MurciaRegion created in 2005 the Sierra Minera Consortium, focused on boosting the economic activityof the Sierra de Cartagena via mining tourism. Its most importance action have been the creationof the Mining Park of La Unión. In present work, results of this Mining Park are analyzed and com-pared to those who are obtained in other zones of mining tourism in Spain.

Resumen

El patrimonio geo-minero de la región de Murcia se encuentra en una situación de abandono ydeterioro. Aunque los elementos patrimoniales han sido declarados Bien de Interés Cultural, ellono ha supuesto en la práctica una protección efectiva y el proceso de expolio y degradación con-tinúa. La experiencia de otras regiones mineras en España y en Europa, indica que su protecciónsólo será posible si va de la mano de una actividad económica sostenible que implique a la basesocial, como es el Turismo Minero. Por ello la Comunidad Autónoma de la Región de Murcia creóen 2005 el Consorcio Sierra Minera para potenciar la actividad económica de la Sierra deCartagena a través del turismo minero. Su actuación más importante ha sido el Parque Minerode La Unión. En este trabajo se analizan los resultados de este Parque y se comparan con los deotras zonas de España con ofertas de turismo minero.

Key-words: Geo-mining heritage, mining tourism, La Unión Mining Park.

1. Geo-mining heritage in the province of Murcia

1.1. Introduction

The Geological Heritage is defined as the geological resources as a whole, whether they are rock

Department of Mining, Geological and Cartographic Engineering. Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena. Pº Alfonso XIII 52, 30203Cartagena (Murcia). [email protected] SEDPGYM, FSM

Seminario_10_2013_d 10/6/13 17:12 Página 62

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formations, structures, reliefs, landscapes,springs, mineral or palaeontological sites andso on, whose content and presentation is espe-cially appropriate to recognise, study and inter-pret the geologic history of a region. The MiningHeritage, on the other hand, is a value whichappears when the mining activity ends. It con-sists on the set of elements, both real estateand furniture, as well as landscape elements,which can be used to recognise and interpretthe mining history of a region and its technolo-gical evolution, sociological impact, etc.

These two types of heritages, Geological andMining, are usually so closely linked in miningareas that sometimes it is not possible toseparate them. In these cases we use the termGeo-mining Heritage.

The Mining Landscape is the landscape expres-sion of the Geological Heritage and is an ele-ment with great value for representing the iden-tity of the mining areas. This is the case of theareas of Mazarrón and Cartagena-La Unión,which stand out among the several mining dis-

tricts of the province of Murcia thanks to theirheritage wealth.

Referring to Mazarrón, in sites such asCabezos de San Cristóbal and Los Perules it iswhere the mining landscape is most predomi-nant. The nature of this landscape is determi-ned both by its geological context of hydrother-mal alterations of igneous rock and by theextraordinary variety of mineral waste whichhave been altered by weathering. If we add tothis mineral waste, with their colours, theremains of mining structures, we obtain aspace of an extraordinary appeal. A main partof our interest in this patrimony is focused onthe old mines of alunite or alum stone, whichwere the basis of an important mining activityon the area which began on the Roman era.

Referring to the Mining sierra of Cartagena-LaUnión, even though there are elements of patri-monial interest all over the site, there are spe-cific sectors where the mining landscape looksstrongest. Such are the cases of the area ofCabezo Rajao, similar to the already mentioned

Seminario SEM 10 Depósito legal: CA-602-2004 / ISSN: 1698-5478

Fig. 1. Mining landscape of Los Perules (Mazarrón)


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sector of Mazarrón, the sector of La Crisoleja(the Cabárceno from Cartagena); an iron oxidegreat overburden or gossan, which was exploi-ted on the 19th century as an open pit ironmine on the Southern side of the mountainrange; as well as Sancti Spiritu and Cuesta deLas Lajas, the great open pit mines, such asEmilia, Brunita and so on.

Both districts, thanks to their great scientificvalue as models of geological and methaloge-nial contexts, combined to the remains of amillennial mining activity, are examples of unri-valled geo-mining heritage and mining landsca-pes, both nationally and internationally.

1.2. Current status of the Geo-mining heritage inthe province

Overall, the geo-mining heritage of the provinceis in a deplorable state of neglect and disrepair,and it is about to die out, especially regardingdevices and mining facilities. After the mineswere closed, a generalised process of destruc-tion of the mining facilities and devices began.These devices and facilities had in some casesa great archeo-industrial value. Machinery hou-ses, head frames, chimneys, washers and soon are about to die out. The same is happeningto the mining sites this mining was linked to,such as mineral outcroppings, open cat minesand so on, some of them with great scientificvalue. They are also about to die out due toseveral reasons.

Referring to the area of Sierra de Cartagena,the mining area, as well as its patrimonial ele-ments, was declared in 1986 a Property of

Cultural Interest (BIC) with the designation ofhistorical site by the General Department ofCulture of the Autonomous Community ofMurcia. Nevertheless, this record has beenmodified several times since then in relation tothe subsequent resources and the physicallimits of the BIC area. In fact, the BIC areadeclaration is currently on hold until a newrecord is ready. Anyhow, though the patrimonialassets are inventoried and have been declaredof cultural interest, this has not meant in prac-tice an effective protection. The constant pilla-ge and degradation process keeps going onnowadays 22 years after the end of the miningactivities in the area.

The BIC declaration from Mazarrón has been inforce since 2005. 43 years after the end of themining activities, there is little remaining fromthe mining devices and industrial constructionsdue to the systematic pillage of scrap mer-chants and other people who retrieve mate-rials. Even though most of the mining facilitieshave disappeared, there is still a very impor-

The situation of the Geo-mining heritage in the region of Murcia …José Ignacio Manteca Martínez

Fig. 2. Shaft capstan at San Cristobal mountain (Mazarrón)

Fig. 3. Brunita open cut mine. Sierra de Cartagena

Fig. 4. Emilia open cat mine. Sierra de Cartagena


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tant mining heritage consisting on geologic andgeomorphologic elements, such as lode veins,open cat mines, dumps and mining wastedeposits which are full of incredible colours,thus creating a magnificent landscape.

In a nutshell, the status of the geo-mining heri-tage is distressing. You can tell that, until veryrecently, little has been done for this miningheritage, except leaving it to its fate, at thehands of time, rapine and pillage.

Fortunately, on the last few years, some sec-tors from society have begun to become awareof the value of the geo-mining heritage, whichhas provoked the Regional Government gettinginvolved about it.

We should highlight the establishment of theSierra Minera Foundation, a non-profit organi-sation for the protection of the heritage of thearea. We do also believe the heritage divulga-tion work by the UPCT has played an importantrole, especially when this university held inCartagena in 2002 an International Congresson Mining Heritage, which has helped spreadthe word about this heritage and demand itsprotection. As a result of the increasing socialdemands, the Autonomous Community (CARM)created in 2005 the Sierra Minera Consortium,focused on boosting the social and economicactivity of the area via cultural tourism andbased on its mining heritage.

2. Protection of the Geo-mining heritageand socioeconomic dynamisation: miningtourism

We cannot deny the importance of preservingthe geo-mining heritage as the historic and cul-tural heritage of an area. Thanks to our expe-rience, we know that its preservation will beimpossible unless it comes with a sustainableeconomic activity which involves the socialbase. The inhabitants of the region should bethus the most interested ones in protectingthese resources. This sustainable economicactivity is without a doubt Mining Tourism.

Mining Tourism can be considered as belongingto Cultural Tourism, but it can be consideredalso as part of Geotourism or tourism mainlybased on the geological heritage. (Luján,

2012). Mining Tourism is thus more like a brid-ge connecting Cultural Tourism andGeotourism.

Cultural Tourism, along with Geotourism, repre-sents an economic activity which is becomingincreasingly important thanks to severalcurrent trends, such as the interest in ruralareas and the environment, active leisure acti-vities for seniors and so on. Mining Tourism fitsperfectly among these types of tourism, and itis currently a very important source of incomefor various towns and districts.

If we want this mining tourism to develop,we need to increase the value of the Geo-mining Heritage by creating specific tourismoffers which should become part of thegeneral tourism offer from that area: Miningmuseums, mines adapted to work asmuseums, mining parks, geo-mining roadsor routes, Interpretation Centres and so on.

3. Actions for the recovery and enhacementof the geo-mining heritage in sierra mineraof la Unión-Cartagena

3.1. Actions performed

The recovery and enhancement of the miningheritage for its incorporation to the tourismoffer in the Sierra de Cartagena-La Unión areaperformed so far are as follows:

• Mining Museum of La Unión: It was inaugu-rated in December 1986 by the TownCouncil of La Unión. It is currently placed atan emblematic building of this town, theformer Liceo Obrero, built in 1902. Themuseum displays tools and mining equip-ment from different eras, as well asmodels, photographs and drawings, and alarge exhibition of minerals. They all helpthe visitor learn about the technologicalevolution of mining in the area, as well asthe social and working conditions andrepresentative minerals from the mines.

• Mining route “Carretera del 33”. This is anold service road to the mines placed betwe-en the towns of La Unión and Portman. Ithas been promoted as a hiking route since2000 by the Town Council of La Unión by



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publishing a guide and a leaflet about thegeology and mining of the area in collabora-tion with the UPCT.

• Interpretation Centre of Mining and theEnvironment of the Las Matildes mine (ElBeal- within Cartagena city limits). It wasinaugurated in July 2005 by the SierraMinera Foundation as par t of theEuropean LIFE-Environment, with the sup-port and co-financing of the departmentsof Environment, Tourism and Culture of theAutonomous Community of Murcia, andthe City of Cartagena and the Caja MurciaFoundation. Investment: 0.8 million EUR.

• Creation of the Mining Park of La Unión:Refitting and enhancement of the mineAgrupa Vicenta, the Remunerada washery,the outdoor facilities of the Pablo y Virginiamine and so on. This has been promotedby the Town Council of La Unión and theTourism Consortium of Sierra Minera.Investment: 2.8 million EUR

• Refitting of the outdoor facilities of theBlanca or San Quintín mine (machineryhouses, head frame, and mineral washingfacilities). Promoted by the Town Council ofCartagena and the Irrigators Comunnity ofEl Beal. (Investment unknown. To be inau-gurated).

• First phase of the adapting of the mine-caveVictoria for tourist visits. Promoted by theTown Council of Cartagena and the TourismConsortium of Sierra Minera. (Investment:0.4 million. To be inaugurated).

3.2. Planned future actions

The planned future actions for the geo-miningheritage of Sierra de Cartagena-La Unión areas follows:

• Creation of the Mine Thematic Area ofCabezo Rajao. This is a project for the resto-ring and enhancement of a significantmining heritage of the said location, which isa symbol of mining in this area. Apart fromrestoring the heritage, we intend to provide


Fig. 5. Las Matildes mine, inerpretation Center (El Beal, Cartagena)

Fig. 6. Las Matildes mine, conjoint (El Beal, Cartagena)

Fig. 7. Agrupa Vicenta mine museum

Fig. 8. Agrupa Vicenta: The mine as a didactic area


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several facilities (restaurants, accommoda-tions and so on) to this area so as to makeit attractive for tourism. (Amount: 8.5 millionEUR)

• Adapting the underground mine of Pablo yVirginia, located in the Mining Park of LaUnión, for tourist visits. (Amount: 0.8 millionEUR)

4. The case of the Mining Park of La Unión.results of the two first years of operationand perspectives

The most importance actions among the Geo-mining heritage enhancement actions of theSierra de Cartagena so far have been the crea-tion of the Mining Park of La Unión. All the otheractions, which had far less ambitious inves-tments, have also received a very modest ans-wer referring to tourist results. In fact, the mini-mal initial success of the Interpretation Centreof the mine of Las Matildes virtually disappea-red when the Mining Park was opened. Whenthis park was opened, we found out that visitsto an underground mine raised great interest tothe public.

During the first two years of operation, the Parkhas been managed by the Sierra MineraFoundation, organisation that won the corres-ponding allocation competition. 40,400 peoplevisited the Park during the first year, while thesecond year it welcomed 33,600 visitors. Thisis a 17% decrease which may be blamed to theeconomic problems the country is facing. Themonthly average number of visitors was 3,200,but far from being constant. Actually, this num-ber mainly depends on the time of year. Inmonths such as April and August this numberincreases, while in months such as Januaryand September it decreases. This dependenceon the time of year has made us establish a fle-xible personnel system which adapts to thedemand.

The type of the visitors is divided almost at 50%between individual visits and group visits,which come mainly from education centres,schools and colleges, as well as from seniorgroups. It is no doubt that the economic cutswhich have been approved by the government,as well as the impact they are producing on

education, social grants and so on, are one ofthe main causes of this decrease in the num-ber of visitors.

The economic results of these two years havebeen negative, although losses during thesecond year have greatly decreased. Without adoubt, this has happened thanks to the expe-rience factor and the solving of some structuralproblems the facilities suffered since the ope-ning. We should thus expect a third year withbalanced results, unless the number of visitorsdropped, which is happening, unfortunately.Referring to the Mining Park of La Unión, whichhas an underground mine that can be visited;the preventive maintenance and control tasksfor the mine by mine personnel have greatly rai-sed the costs.

Anyhow, we do not expect that these touristfacilities produce a great direct profitability, dueto their characteristics, high maintenancecosts, and the high dependence on time and soon. On the contrary, if they were self-sufficient,that would be an achievement. What we ratherpursue with this type of tourist structures is anindirect profitability caused by its impact on thelocal economy (bars, shops, restaurants,hotels and so on) and certainly a socioculturalprofitability. We pursue this to the extent that itwill allow preserving a heritage and that it willraise the cultural level of the society. In relationto this we should remember this type of tou-rism should include a great cultural component,by promoting scientific investigation and divul-gation activities related to Geo-mining Heritage.

5. Mining tourism in Europe and Spain

In Western Europe, the geology and mining heri-tage enjoys a great deal of attention. There arecountless initiatives for its protection andenhancement. In almost all the former miningdistricts affected by the decline and closure ofmines in Germany, France, England andPortugal, the mining heritage has been recove-red thanks to the creation of mine-museums,mining parks, archaeo-industrial routes, all ofthem being perfectly included into the culturaltourist offer of these countries (Puche andMazadiego, 2000). These initiatives, which arenormally developed by local and regional govern-ments, have resulted in a very important econo-



Mining park/mine-museum Community Opening dateMuseo Minero de La Unión Murcia 1986Parque natural de Las Médulas (León) Castilla-León a. 1990Parque de la naturaleza de Cabárceno Cantabria 1990Parque Minero de Río Tinto Andalucía 1992Mina museo de Gavá (Barcelona) Cataluña 1993Museo de la Minería El Entrego (Asturias) Asturias 1994Museo minero de Peñarroya-Pueblo Nuevo Andalucía 1997Montaña de sal de Cardona (Barcelona) Cataluña 1997Mina La Jayona (Badajoz) Extremadura 1997Mina museo de Cercs (Barcelona Cataluña 1999Mina museo de Bellmunt (Tarragona) Cataluña 2002Museo de la minería del País vasco Gallarta País Vasco 2002Cueva-Mina del Hierro(Cuenca) Castilla-La Mancha 2002Mina museo de La Escucha (Teruel) Aragón 2003Cerro del Hierro (Constantina, Sevilla) Andalucía 2003

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mic activity which has created lots of jobs.

There are up to 364 tourist mines throughoutthe European community (Sanmiquel Pera et al,2012). Their development started on the1970s. Some of these mines are very interes-ting, holding 100,000 visitors per year (Pucheand Mazadiego, 2000), such as the salt mine ofWieliczka (Poland), with almost 1 million visitorsper year (Carvajal, 2009), the carbon mine ofLewarde (France), with 150,000 visitors appro-ximately or that of Kerkrade (The Netherlands),also a carbon mine, with 300.000 visitors peryear. We can also add to these the mines of LeGrand-Hornu (Belgium), Blaenavon (UnitedKingdom), Zollverein (Germany) or theEcomuseum of Le Creusot-Montceau-Les Minesin France (Cañizares, 2011).

As a general rule, Spain has long lacked thenecessary cultural sensitivity. Consequently, inmany cases, when a mine was closed, it wasexposed to vandalism and looting. And what ismore, true treasures of the mining and archeo-industrial heritage of our country have beendestroyed and sold as scrap in exchange of afew thousand pesetas.

Reactions aiming for the protection and enhan-cement of the mining heritage have taken placelate, 20 years later in relation to the rest ofEurope. Of course, heritage has not experien-ced the same fate in all the regions of Spain. Ina nutshell, whereas in Europe the mining tou-rism started developing in the 1970s, here inSpain this began in the 1990s.

If it is true that some mining museums, with amore local focus, existed before the 1990s,the first Mining Park truly focused on tourism inSpain was that of Río Tinto, created in 1992.The first mine-museum opened in Spain wasthe prehistoric mine of Gavá, Barcelona, in1993. It was followed by the opening of theimaging-mine of El Entrego in Asturias, in 1994.They have been followed by other actions,which have been luckily occurring at an increa-sing pace. The praiseworthy work for spreadingand divulging the Geo-mining heritage by seve-ral social and scientific organisations has beenessential in order to involve the Government inthis type of actions.

In the recent era of economic growth, the inves-tment in mine-museum and mining parks was7.5 million Euros per year (Puche andMazadiego, 2007). According to these authors,the number of visitors to these centres wouldbe 2 million people approximately. Amaré andOrche (2011) have prepared a very elaborateinventory of mining exposition areas and minesturned into museums in Spain which includesup to 82 of these centres. According to theseauthors, only 42 centres did mention on thesurvey the number of visitors in 2009, totalling1,736,373. They thus estimate the number ofvisitors to tourist mines should be higher than2 millions.

Nevertheless, nowadays we should believethat, due to the economic crisis, these num-bers have decreased significantly.


Table 1. Cronology of the development of Mine Parks and Mine Museums in Spain


Cueva-mina de El Soplao Cantabria 2004Museo minero de Barruelo de Santullán Castilla-León 2004Centro de interpretación minera de Aldea Moret Extremadura 2004Museo minero de Andorra-Sierra del Arco (Teruel) Aragón 2005Museo minero de Puerto Llano (Ciudad Real) Castilla-La Mancha 2006Centro de interpretación de Mina Las Matildes (Cartagena) Murcia 2006Museo del Oro de Asturias (Navelgas) Asturias 2006Geoparque de Cabo de Gata Andalucía 2007Centro de interpretación Paisaje Minero (Linares, Jaén) Andalucía 2007Mina museo Esperanza La Torre d’en Besora Valencia 2007Mina Pastora (Aliseda-Cáceres) Extremadura 2007Parque minero de Almadén (Ciudad Real) Castilla-La Mancha 2008Museo minero de Sabero (León) Castilla-León 2008Complejo Minero de Puras de Villafranca (Burgos) Castilla-León 2008Minas de Arditurri (Guipúzcoa País Vasco 2008Ferrería de San Blas ( Sabero León) Castilla León 2008Complejo Minero de Puras de Villafranca (Burgos) Castilla León 2008Centro geominero del Cerro del Toro, Motril Andalucía 2009Mina Nueva Victoria (Culla Castellón Valencia 2009Museo de la Mina Mequinenza Aragón 2010Parque Minero de La Unión Murcia 2010Mina de Arnao Asturias 2011Mina Esperanza (Olmo de Atapuerca) Castilla León 2013Mina-cueva Victoria Murcia P.I.

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If we take a look to this table, we can seethat the interest for mining tourism is arelatively recent phenomenon in Spain. Theenhancement of the mining heritage andits addition to the tourist offer begins in1990 and it develops intensely over thelast two decades, especially from 2002 to2010. From 2010 on we see this develop-ment has slowed down due to the econo-mic crisis.

The mine of Arnao, whose adapting ended in2011, has not been inaugurated yet due to theeconomic problems. Something similar happe-ned in the mine-cave Victoria in Cartagena.Most of the adapting works are completed, butthere are no resources to end them and openthe mine to the public. In relation to this, theopening of the Esperanza de Olmo of Atapuercamine is an unimportant exception, since itsadapting budget was very low.


Mining park/mine-museum Community VisitorsParque de la naturaleza de Cabárceno Cantabria 530.000Cueva-mina de El Soplao Cantabria 250.000Museo de la Minería El Entrego (Asturias) Asturias 94.000Parque Minero de Río Tinto Andalucía 77.000Montaña de sal de Cardona (Barcelona) Cataluña 75.000Parque natural de Las Médulas (León) Castilla-León 73.000Parque Minero de La Unión Murcia 37.000Mina museo de Cercs (Barcelona) Cataluña 36.000Ferrería de San Blas (Sabero León) Castilla León 36.000Mina museo de La Escucha (Teruel) Aragón 29.000Cerro del Hierro (Constantina, Sevilla) Andalucía 20.000Parque minero de Almadén (Ciudad Real) Castilla La Mancha 18.000Mina museo de Gavá (Barcelona) Cataluña 16.000Museo minero de Barruelo de Santullán Castilla-León 15.000Mina La Jayona (Badajoz) Extremadura 14.000

Table 2. Visitors to the different Mine Tourist Centres where data are available.


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6. Perspectives and conclusions

As we can conclude by looking to the visitor num-bers at the table attached, it is clear that only the6 first mine tourist interest centres from the listhave a great tourism future and, without a doubt,a significant economic impact on the correspon-ding region. These 6 centres count up for the50% of that mining tourism market.

On the other hand, there are two phenomenaon this list which stand out from the rest: Theyare the Cabárceno Natural Park and the Mine-Cave El Soplao, both placed in Cantabria, whichrepresent the 39% of mining tourism. We needto admit these greatly successful cases arecaused by the presence of other interest fac-tors complementary to the mining heritage,such as the existence of a zoo within the minearea (Cabárceno) and an extraordinary Karsticmorphology (El Soplao).

We do also see that many of these resorts

have less than 10,000 visitors per year. It is nodoubt their economic sustainability should bedifficult, unless specific strategies are applied,such as temporary jobs, opening on weekendsonly and so on. Even so, it is clear that manycentres will never be self-financing and obtain adirect profitability, especially in the case ofmines-museum, which will inevitably need highmaintenance costs.

Consequently, if we want them to work out, theyinevitably will need grants from the Governmentor the sponsoring from commercial busines-ses, banks and so on for helping these centresvia patronage or sponsoring.

We should not forget that the main aim of thismining tourism offers is not really obtainingdirect profitability thanks to selling tickets, butspecially obtaining an indirect or induced profi-tability thanks to their impact on the economicactivities of the region (hotels, restaurants,bars, shops and so on). All of this will make


Minas de Arditurri (Guipúzcoa País Vasco 14.000Mina museo de Bellmunt (Tarragona) Cataluña 12.000Museo de la minería del País vasco Gallarda País Vasco 12.000Museo minero de Puerto Llano (Ciudad Real) Castilla-La Mancha 10.000Museo del Oro de Asturias (Navelgas) 5.200Complejo Minero de Puras de Villafranca (Burgos) Castilla-León 4.000Mina museo Esperanza La Torre d’en Besora País Valenciano 4.000Museo Minero de La Unión Murcia 4.000Centro geominero del Cerro del Toro, Motril Andalucía 2.000Museo minero de Andorra-Sierra del Arco (Teruel) Aragón 3.000Museo minero de Peñarroya-Pueblo Nuevo Andalucía 1.700Centro de interpretación minera de Aldea Moret Extremadura 1.500Centro de interpretación de Mina Las Matildes (Cartagena) Murcia 1.000

(These data come from: Amaré and Orche 2011 and self-obtained)

Fig. 9. Mine museum of Sabero (León) Fig. 10. The Almadén Mining Parck (Ciudad Real)


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society consider the geo-mining heritage assomething of their own which affects the eco-nomy of the region, thus becoming resolutelyimplicated in protecting their heritage.

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Manteca Martínez, J. I, García García, C., BerrocalCaparrós, C., Jiménez Medina, P., Collado Espejo, P.E yRecio Sevilla, A.(2008). Puesta en valor del patrimoniocultural de la sierra minera de La Unión: El Plan Directorde a Cuesta de Las Lajas y Carretera del 33. Aspectosgeológico-mineros y medioambientales. Actas de lasXIX jornadas de patrimonio cultural de la región deMurcia. Vol. II. pp. 671-682. Edita: Ediciones TresFronteras, Consejería de Cultura y Turismo, Direccióngeneral del Libro, Archivos y Bibliotecas. ISBN:978-84-7564-442-4. Cartagena (Murcia).

Martín Aparicio, A. y Puche Riart, O. (2000). Recuperaciónde minas e instalaciones mineras antiguas. TemasGeológico-Mineros, 31, pp. 491-507- Instituto Geológico yMinero de España, ISBN: 84-7840-419-8

Martos P., Manteca J.I. De Miquel, L., Mouzo, R.,Berrocal, C. y García, C. (2005). Creación del centro deInterpretación Minera y Ambiental de la mina LasMatildes (El Beal, Cartagena). Actas del VI CongresoInternacional sobre Patrimonio Geológico y Minero. EditaSEDPGYM. ISBN.978-84-611—8073-8. pp. 369-378.Fabero del Bierzo (León).

Orche, E. (2003). Puesta en valor del PatrimonioGeológico-Minero: El proceso de adaptación de explota-



The XXXIII SEM Scientific Meeting and the X SummerGeological Heritage Course. June, 2013

Trip to the Mining Mountain Range of Cartagena-La Unión:"Tourist Use of the Mining and Mineralogical Heritage"Friday, June 28

Description of the Geo-mining Heritage Sites to be visited(Visits guided by professor J.I. Manteca Martínez, of the Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena)

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ciones mineras a parques temáticos. Patrimonio geoló-gico y minero en el contexto del cierre de minas, 27-49.Ed.R. Villas-Boas, A. González Martínez y G.Sa deAlburquerque. CETEM. Río de Janeiro. Brasil.

Orche, E. (2004). Problemática de la seguridad en losParques Mineros españoles. De Re Metallica. Boletín dela Sociedad Española para la Defensa del PatrimonioGeológico y Minero, 2004, nº 3, p. 55-65.

Pérez De Perceval Valverde, M.A., Manteca Martínez J.I.y López Morell, M.A. (2010). Patrimonio minero de laRegión de Murcia. Áreas. Revista Internacional deCiencias Sociales. Nº 20, pp. 140-147. Editum.Fundación Caja Murcia.

Puche, O. y Mazadiego, L. F. (1997). Conservación delpatrimonio minero-metalúrgico español: actuaciones

recientes, propuestas y su financiación. Actas de la IReunión Científica sobre Patrimonio Minero Metalúrgico.Cuenca, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, pp. 43-53.Puche, O. et al. (2004). Evolución histórica: nacimiento,desarrollo y futuro de la conservación del patrimoniominero-metalúrgico. De Re Metallica. Boletín de laSociedad Española para la Defensa del PatrimonioGeológico y Minero, 2004, nº 2, p. 31-38.

Puche, O. (2006). Paisajes culturales de la mineríaespañola. En ARRIBAS, D. (Coord.) Arte, Industria yTerritorio 2. Huesca, Fundación Beulas, Centro de Arte yNaturaleza, pp. 142-153.

Puche, O. y Mazadiego, L. F. (2007). Minería, karst yturismo en España. En VV.AA. Patrimonio Geológico,Arqueològico e Mineiro em regiões Cársicas. Batalha,SEDPGYM, pp. 165-170.


The Mining Park of La Unión

The Mining Park of La Unión (Murcia/Spain) is a“land museum”, placed just South of the townof La Unión, in an area called Cuesta de LasLajas, corresponding to the Northern slope ofthe Cartagena mountain range. This site is oneof the more genuine mining landscapes still pre-served in the Mining district of Cartagena-LaUnión, and probably in the whole country.

Luckily, this environment has remained safefrom urban development and from industrialor another kind of activities, so its miningcharacter has not been contaminated and itmight be said that its physiognomy is thesame as one century ago.

This sector is also very particular from the geo-

logical point of view, because of its presence ofdikes of igneous rocks, hidrotermal breccias,stratiform and veins type ore bodies, etc., anddue too to the fact that is practically the onlyzone of the mountain where tin mineralisationswere present.

The park was promoted by the town council ofLa Unión and was officially inaugurated in July,2010. It should be taken into account that theAgrupa Vicenta mine is the central element ofthis park, and the one that attracts the majortourist interest of the whole.

Agrupa Vicenta mine

Agrupa Vicenta is a former underground mine,placed in the site of Cuesta de Las Lajas, in themunicipal area of La Unión, which has been

Annexed


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adapted as a “mine museum” for tourist purpo-ses by the town council of La Unión. It is basedon a project developed by investigators of theMining, Engineering department of theUniversidad Politécnica de Cartagena in collabo-ration with the company Gestión y PlanificaciónMinera (G.P.M).

The project was focused on two types ofactions. There was a first set of actions groupedas "mining work" and whose aim was to guaran-tee the stability, safety, accessibility and easycirculation conditions inside the mine. Thesecond set of actions was grouped under thename "musealisation", and it aimed to facilita-te the interpretation of the visit to the mine andto provide it with a story content.

A stratiform sulphide mineralisation, mainly pyri-tic (pyritic mantle) was exploited at the AgrupaVicenta mine. Mining took place using the tradi-tional method of the mountain range, roomsand pillars. A 45 meters length tunnel with a2x2 meters section allows the access to theinterior of the mine, at 135 on the sea level. Themine has an extension of approximately 4,800m2, divided in 5 sublevels.

The guided tour along the mine provides the visi-tors with basic information about the geologicaland mineralogical characteristics of the site,and about the mining history of the district, andit gives them a quite precise vision of the basisof the mining work and its organisation, the cha-racteristics of the work in the mines, and so on.

Brunita open cut

We arrive to this site via the regional road N-345, which goes from La Esperanza toPortmán, one kilometre after passing the cros-sing of La Esperanza. It is placed in the limit bet-ween the town limits of Cartagena and LaUnión.

Brunita is an old open cut mine developed bythe Peñarroya company in the 80s. We used toexploit a sulphide stratiform mineralisation, ormantle, ere. Sulphide mantle was formed byhydrothermal replacement of Triassic marbles.In the mineralisation pyrite accompanied ofpyrrhotite, sphalerite, galena, and locally chal-copyrite predominates. In the oxidation areas a

series of secondary minerals appear, some ofthem very rare, such as the iron phosphatesvivianite and ludlamite, and the iron silicate,cronstedtite.

The mining excavation allows the visitors toobserve the stratigraphic succession of the dif-ferent units, and the geological situation of theore body. Since the excavation penetrated verymuch underneath the groundwater level, nowa-days there is a large lake reaching 30 meters ofdepth. Therefore this old open cut constitutesnowadays an excellent example of a mine lakeof acid water. This acid lagoon presents a greatscientific interest as an example of an extremo-phile environment, where a certain biotic activityexists, comparable to the case of the Río Tintodistrict in Huelva. The landscape and didacticvalues of the site are endless, both from thegeo-heritage and environmental point of view.

The Avenque creek

We arrive to this site via the regional road N-345,which goes from La Esperanza to Portmán, 3kilometres after passing the crossing of LaEsperanza. It is placed in the limit between thetown limits of Cartagena and of The Union.

The configuration of the Avenque creek valleycomes determined by a set of parallel faults ofdirection N-130 º, the most representative beingthe Anita fault. These faults separate an orien-tal high block, where Nevado-Filábrides mate-rials outcrop (Gloria open cut mine sector), of awestern sunken block represented by the thickAlpujárrides formations.

The mentioned faults are mineralised in depth,both in the intersection with the Alpujárrideslimestones and on the underlying Nevado-Filábrides, giving place to veins. The notableveins of this sector were the veins Anita,Francisco Javier, Inocente, Ebraldo, Arresto, etc.

Therefore this is a zone that had an extraordi-nary mining importance at the end of the 19thand beginning of the 20th centuries. For this rea-son the landscape is strongly antropisated, mar-ked by mining structures and enormous depo-sits of mining residues; though the major wastedeposits (tailings dumps) are more recent andare the differential flotation concentrators, ins-



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talled in the zone in the second half of the 20thcentyrt. The territory of the Avenque creek cons-titutes an extraordinary example of mininglandscape, which helps the visitors reconstructa great part of the Cartagena mountain mininghistory as well as his technological evolution.

Along the Avenque valley flows an almost per-manent small creek, which has his origins in theacid mine drainage from the mining zone placedin the geological elevated block (Gloria area)and which flows into in the bay of Gorguel.

In short, the area of the Avenque valley providesan incomparable example of a very interestingmining landscape, which may be analysed fromseveral points of view, including the mining heri-tage, geomorphological considerations, environ-mental problems, and so on.

Mine-cave Victoria

It is placed one kilometre northeast of the villa-ge of El Estrecho de San Ginés, in the Eastslope of San Ginés mountain; within the citylimits of Cartagena. This area is consideredpart of the Protected Landscape and LIC (Site ofCultural Importance) of the open spaces andislands of the Mar Menor.

San Ginés' mountain, where the Victory Cave issituated, is an isolated mountainous relief, ,located in the northern side of Sierra deCartagena, which is formed by Middle Triassiccarbonate rocks, limestones and dolomites,belonging to the lower Alpujárride complex orSan Ginés Unit. As a matter of fact, it was in thismount where the stratotype of the above men-tioned unit was established. The carbonate for-mation bends towards the East- NorthEast, bet-ween 30 and 45 º and its thickness is almost200 meters. In this rock mass there are abun-dant iron-manganese lodes that were indus-trially exploited in the past

The Victoria mine-cave is part of the group ofmines that were opened in San Ginés mount. Itwas exploited from the end of the 19th centuryup to the decade of the 1950s. In this mine theminers exploited iron and manganese veins andpockets bolsadas inside Triassic limestones.

In fact, it was the mining exploitation of the

veins what led to the discovery of a great cavernthat was almost completely filled by detritalsediments and manganese mineralisations ofkarstic origin. The later emptying of the cave bythe miners to recover the ore showed there wasan enormous quantity of fossil bones, which for-med part of the its detritic landfilling.

Nowadays, the Victoria cave is an importantexample of the presence of African faunae (hip-popotamus, elephant, giraffe, zebra, babuino,saber tiger, hyena, etc.) in the south-easternregion of Spain, as well as of the existence ofthe remains of probably the most ancient homi-nids in Spain, together with the so called man ofOrce, in the province of Granada, dated in1,200,000 years old and belonging to the Plio-Pleistocene era.

Doctor Josep Gibert Clols, from thePaleontological Museum of Sabadell, was theone mostly in charge of the paleontologicalstudy of the Victoria cave. From this investigato-r’s point of view, the geographical situation andthe age of the remains point out the possibilitythat in that era, Strait of Gibraltar was partiallyclosed due to the emersion of intercontinentalbridges between Africa and Spain, which couldallow the arrival of faunae, including hominids,to the south-eastern area of the peninsula.

In synthesis, in the Victoria mine cave severalpatrimonial aspects are present: On the onehand, we can find an interesting geo-mining heri-tage, which includes aspects of karstic morpho-logy, presence of iron and manganese complexmineralisation, mining structures, and an inte-resting mining history and so on. On the otherhand, we can observe a very valuable paleonto-logical heritage, which includes a wide catalo-gue of Plio-Pleistocene macrofaunae made upby more than 30 species. Among these specieswe fin very ancient remains of hominids,although the remains mentioned above are sub-ject to controversy in relation to their classifica-tion and dating. An excellent exhibition of thefossils founded at cave is available at theArchaelogy Museum of Cartagena.

The Cartagena town council is now carrying outthe adaptation of this mine-cave for its futureincorporation to the cultural tourism offer of theregion.



Documents

The situation of the Geo-mining heritage in the region of Mur cia a … · 2013. 7. 15. · H eritage, on the other hand, is a value w hich appears w hen the m ining activity ends