Mining Landscape in Mazarron

During the 19^th and 20th centuries, the mining and industrial activity of Mazarrón came back when the old Roman mines of Cotos San Cristóbal y Los Perules, Coto de las Pedreras Viejas and Coto Fortuna, together with other smaller quarries, were operated again. Reactivation of mining works resulted in the need to build a large steel mill in Puerto de Mazarrón, supported by some of the main European companies of the time (i.e. Rothschild). These mines were first operated by the Romans, who made the most of the geological characteristics of Mazarrón, its easy access by sea and proximity to Carthago Nova, where manufactured raw materials were distributed.

 

The Coto Fortuna mine still has important pieces of Roman engineering, such as the drain gallery, mineral extraction wells and an old panning. The Roman company that operated the mine was Societas Montis Argentaris IIvcro, name carved in ingots found in Tiber, near Rome itself. In the mining facilities of San Cristóbal y los Perules one can visit Corta Romana, an open-air quarry with a large and impressive working area of over 300 meters in length and 25 in height which can still be seen today. On the walls of this work area it is possible to see the marks of mining tools used at the time (hammers, wedges and picks) and in the upper part there are visible probing gallery marks and holes.