The Peña del Hierro is a major mining deposit that is part of the Mining Paro of Rio Tinto. These are sulfide deposits originating from 300 million years ago. Mining of this area is documented by the Romans for use in making silver and copper coins, but even further back are the people from the Copper Age. In the early 19th century Peña del Hierro was mined by a Spanish company for mostly copper ores. The profitability of the mine was diminished due to rustic and inefficient mining equipment and being too far from the Cannon Foundry of Seville. The in 1883, the mine was owned by two different British companies where productivity and efficiency flourished. The main products were sulfur and copper. These two companies improved the mine with added underground stabilization for the tunnels and open cast mining. Mostly, they constructed a railway line to connect the mine to the ports within 5 hours. Previously it would take up to five days to reach the processing area in Seville. The mine has been out of use since the 1960s. We visited the open-cast mine via the Santa Maria Tunnel. The tunnel was built to more easily move the rock from the mine out to the processing area. The water in the open cast is one of the main sources of the Rio Tinto River. This water has a pH is 2.2 and between 6 to 8 grams of heavy metals and sulfur per liter. Even before the mining began the water ran red and highly acidic into the Atlantic Ocean – or so the visitor center tells us.
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