Los Gallardos mining row

A row has erupted after people woke up this week in Los Gallardos to discover their land had been seized for a quarry without them being told. A company from the Pais Vasco called Minera de Órgiva has been issued prospecting rights over 240 ha in Los Gallardos and Antas. They’re searching for alabaster (used to make windows), serpentine (used in the steel industry) and marble. The Junta de Andalucia has issued prospecting rights to Continue reading Los Gallardos mining row

French students map Bedar mines

Geological students from the University of Lorraine in France are undertaking a project to map out some of the old mines in Bédar as part of a project by the townhall to reopen them as tourist attractions. The French university has been sending students to the area on field trips for the last few years now, but this year Professor Christian Hibchs suggested that an interesting project would be the mapping of two of the Continue reading French students map Bedar mines

118 mining concessions out to tender

The Junta has opened a bidding process for 118 mining concessions across the province of Almería covering a total of 88.175 ha2. Assuming Almería province is 8,774km2, that’s 877,400 ha2 meaning… That’s 10% of the province out to tender? Crikey. Of course, the concessions just let you go out there with a JCB and dig about until you hit whatever you have to the right to look for. Yeso, marble, ornamental rocks (gravel I suppose, Continue reading 118 mining concessions out to tender

Large mine for protected Velez-Rubio area

A mining concession has been issued – the first step in authorising a full scale open air mine – for a protected area outside Velez-Rubio, in the north of the province of Almería. Ecologistas en Accion have already filed a complaint against the concession with the fiscal general, saying that the area is protected, and pointing out that the same company had a previous concession request rejected in 2002 for the same area. Local activists Continue reading Large mine for protected Velez-Rubio area

Aznalcóllar abandons the green dream and votes to allow industry

Aznalcóllar is a small town in Seville which used to have an enormous mine on its outskirts, until the dam holding back millions of cubic meters of poisonous waste broke in 1998 and polluted beyond recovery almost 5,000 ha of natural land either side of 63 km of river, including a vast swathe of Doñana natural park.

Four million tons of iron a year to be mined from Almeria’s sierras

Permission has been granted for a company to start extracting iron from the hills above Almeria. The company expects to be exporting some 4 million tons of iron a year by 2017. The trouble is that the company, Minas del Alquife S.L., wants to connect the new mine to Almeria port by train, but the townhall has said it will only permit this if the trainline goes underneath the city, which will be a huge Continue reading Four million tons of iron a year to be mined from Almeria’s sierras

Company gets gold mine exploration license

The Junta has issued an exploration license to Basti Resources, a mineral company, to hunt for gold reserves in the Abla / Tres Villas areas. Basti intends to examine a number of the old mineral mines in the area to see if the old mines can be opened up again using modern technology. Although not permitted to open the mine under this license, if they found anything they would have first shout at the paperwork. Continue reading Company gets gold mine exploration license