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One of the biggest open cast mines in the world.   Opened in 1907, it is 1,200m long, 906m wide and 325m deep, with 26 bench levels at 12m intervals.  It exploits a huge lump of pyrite the San Dionisio, the largest ore body in the region.   At it's peak it yielded one million tons of pyrite a year, but it is now closed.

The pit is closed to tourists but clearly signposted from Minas de Rio Tinto.  Access is blocked by fences, but there are plenty of holes to squeeze through and it fairly easy to walk around.  

I found it impossible to photograph in one picture

To get some idea of the scale look at the abandoned lorry half way down the far wall in the middle picture.   The small holes in the walls are not as I originally suspected old (?Roman) mines revealed when the British blasted out this enormous cavity, but the openings of a 20th century underground mine, the Alfredo shaft, which exploited the same ore body.  

Here's a better picture.

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Last modified: November 12, 2006