Nowadays there is a great number of recovery initiatives of abandoned mining sites in a belt that runs from the Eastern Alps through Liguria, Emilia-Romagna up to Tuscany in Italy and in cross-boundary areas. This study involves their census and their characterization focusing on mineral deposits geology aspects. During the last decade we have seen an increasing interest in these initiatives by the Scientific Community, by the Government (ISPRA) and Territorial Bodies (Tuscany and Lombardy). In the 1980s and 1990s the closing of the majority of the Italian mines, most of which metalliferous, carried out to a sensible reduction in Italy in the scientific production on the ore deposits geology. Forty-five improvement initiatives of mining sites (ore and industrial minerals mines and ornamental stone quarries) have been identified. For each site a monographic paper has been produced after direct surveys in situ. A critical comparison between what is offered and what is really accessible by users has also been realized. The data synthesis yielded a thematic map of the situation of the recovery and improvement initiatives of abandoned mining sites from the Alps to Tuscany updated to 2010. The recovery initiatives have been divided in three categories which include “Mines and Quarries”, “Parks and Museums”, “Projects”. The first group enables visitors to see the ore deposit with their own eyes, as it proposes to people a visit of underground mining stopes and levels; the second group offers external paths and/or museum exhibitions, sometimes with artificial reconstructions of mining tunnels; at last the third group is made up of the initiatives at a stage of feasibility study. From this study it appears that at present the Italian regions with the largest number of recovery initiatives are Trentino – Alto Adige, Lombardy and Tuscany. Most of these sites involve ore deposits, mainly base metals sulphides; deposits of industrial minerals, indeed, are incompletely represented by talc, fluorite, salt, sulphur and coal mining sites; a remaining small part is made up of ornamental stones quarries, all underground. From the Alps to Tuscany today it is possible to have a recovered mining heritage that potentially enables to carry out live observations on mineral deposits geology topics about the following important categories of deposits: - polymetallic and talc deposits (stratiform and vein-type) in the Crystalline Basements; - iron, lead – zinc (Ag, Cu) “MVT or carbonate-hosted”, coal, salt, and sulphur stratiform deposits in the Mesozoic and Tertiary sedimentary cover; - polymetallic vein-type pyrite, gold and talc deposits; - Sed-Ex type copper, pyrite and manganese deposits in the alpine and appenninic ophiolites and meta-ophiolites and in their covers; - polymetallic skarn type deposits connected to Tertiary plutonism; - gold-bearing placer deposits in Quaternary fluvioglacial sediments; - ornamental stones quarries (marbles) in the Paleozoic (Alps) and in the Mesozoic (Appennines). All the recovered mining sites are different for types and settings of deposits, mineral substance, geological domain, metallogenic context and age and they are present in a defined geographic neighborhood: from the Alps to Tuscany. The in situ surveys have pointed out that the mineral deposits geology basic elements of these recovery initiatives are often incomplete or lacking, while great emphasis is given to historic information, together with mining industrial archeology. This heritage, indeed, covers not only industrial archaeology and/or tourism topics, but also important geological and mineral deposits aspects. The local geology of mineral deposits is indispensable condition for the opening of quarries and mines. Therefore it is also necessary to pass to the wide public this important cultural aspect. Besides this heritage would be available to the scientific community and to Italian and transalpine universities for didactic and cultural aims.
Castellano, A., Rodeghiero, F. (2011). The mining industrial heritage of the Alps and Central Italy: an analysis of recovery and valorisation initiatives in a mineral deposits geology key. In 10.1474/Epitome. 04.0468, GEOITALIA 2011, Torino, 19–23 settembre 2011, Sessione F1 – “Lo sviluppo sostenibile nel territorio attraverso la musealizzazione” (pp.127-127). Torino : Federazione Italiana di Scienze della Terra, Onlus.
The mining industrial heritage of the Alps and Central Italy: an analysis of recovery and valorisation initiatives in a mineral deposits geology key
RODEGHIERO, FRANCO
2011
Abstract
Nowadays there is a great number of recovery initiatives of abandoned mining sites in a belt that runs from the Eastern Alps through Liguria, Emilia-Romagna up to Tuscany in Italy and in cross-boundary areas. This study involves their census and their characterization focusing on mineral deposits geology aspects. During the last decade we have seen an increasing interest in these initiatives by the Scientific Community, by the Government (ISPRA) and Territorial Bodies (Tuscany and Lombardy). In the 1980s and 1990s the closing of the majority of the Italian mines, most of which metalliferous, carried out to a sensible reduction in Italy in the scientific production on the ore deposits geology. Forty-five improvement initiatives of mining sites (ore and industrial minerals mines and ornamental stone quarries) have been identified. For each site a monographic paper has been produced after direct surveys in situ. A critical comparison between what is offered and what is really accessible by users has also been realized. The data synthesis yielded a thematic map of the situation of the recovery and improvement initiatives of abandoned mining sites from the Alps to Tuscany updated to 2010. The recovery initiatives have been divided in three categories which include “Mines and Quarries”, “Parks and Museums”, “Projects”. The first group enables visitors to see the ore deposit with their own eyes, as it proposes to people a visit of underground mining stopes and levels; the second group offers external paths and/or museum exhibitions, sometimes with artificial reconstructions of mining tunnels; at last the third group is made up of the initiatives at a stage of feasibility study. From this study it appears that at present the Italian regions with the largest number of recovery initiatives are Trentino – Alto Adige, Lombardy and Tuscany. Most of these sites involve ore deposits, mainly base metals sulphides; deposits of industrial minerals, indeed, are incompletely represented by talc, fluorite, salt, sulphur and coal mining sites; a remaining small part is made up of ornamental stones quarries, all underground. From the Alps to Tuscany today it is possible to have a recovered mining heritage that potentially enables to carry out live observations on mineral deposits geology topics about the following important categories of deposits: - polymetallic and talc deposits (stratiform and vein-type) in the Crystalline Basements; - iron, lead – zinc (Ag, Cu) “MVT or carbonate-hosted”, coal, salt, and sulphur stratiform deposits in the Mesozoic and Tertiary sedimentary cover; - polymetallic vein-type pyrite, gold and talc deposits; - Sed-Ex type copper, pyrite and manganese deposits in the alpine and appenninic ophiolites and meta-ophiolites and in their covers; - polymetallic skarn type deposits connected to Tertiary plutonism; - gold-bearing placer deposits in Quaternary fluvioglacial sediments; - ornamental stones quarries (marbles) in the Paleozoic (Alps) and in the Mesozoic (Appennines). All the recovered mining sites are different for types and settings of deposits, mineral substance, geological domain, metallogenic context and age and they are present in a defined geographic neighborhood: from the Alps to Tuscany. The in situ surveys have pointed out that the mineral deposits geology basic elements of these recovery initiatives are often incomplete or lacking, while great emphasis is given to historic information, together with mining industrial archeology. This heritage, indeed, covers not only industrial archaeology and/or tourism topics, but also important geological and mineral deposits aspects. The local geology of mineral deposits is indispensable condition for the opening of quarries and mines. Therefore it is also necessary to pass to the wide public this important cultural aspect. Besides this heritage would be available to the scientific community and to Italian and transalpine universities for didactic and cultural aims.
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