Festival Terras Sem Sombra invites you on a journey through the secrets of the Lousal Mine

Musicians, population and the community of Festival Terras Sem Sombra will unite on Sunday, April 19, from […]

mine of lousalMusicians, population and the community of the Festival Terras Sem Sombra will unite on Sunday, April 19, from 10:30 am, in an action to discover and safeguard the environmental heritage and biodiversity, at Mina do Lousal.

This time, with the coordination ensured by the National Laboratory of Energy and Geology, Center for Living Science of Lousal, Committee IGCP - UNESCO and Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests, the visit revolves around what was one of the main mining regions of the region. Europe: the Iberian pyrite belt.

The mining village of Lousal is located about 20 kilometers south of the village of Grândola. For 88 consecutive years, between 1900 and 1988, his mine, one of the most important in Portugal, explored pyrite for the extraction of sulfur, housing 2500 inhabitants and 1100 workers.

Today, with the mine closed, it is possible to relive the activity of the past through the Centro Ciência Viva do Lousal. On this visit provided by the Festival Terras Sem Sombra, participants are invited to discover this extraordinary Portuguese geological heritage, still little known. The geodiversity of a mining site in the Piritosa Belt will be the theme of the action to be carried out in the former mine.

biodiversityAlong a path in the area surrounding the village of Lousal and the valley of Ribeira de Corona, the corte (open-pit) of the old pyrite mine and a mining gallery, sanctuaries of geodiversity, will be observed.

The sedimentary and volcanic rocks that accompany the massive sulfide mineralizations of Lousal will also be presented, on a journey that extends to the upper Paleozoic seas with 360 million years ago, where, between volcanoes and marine sediments, hydrothermal fluids gave rise to the Lousal deposit .

Other stories of rocks will also be discussed, such as their tectonic folds and faults and the color resulting from their alteration by atmospheric agents. A walk in a landscape with acid water lakes in red tones, but where the relevance of biodiversity cannot be forgotten.

The vast cut, mining wells, industrial equipment and what is left of the neighborhoods recall the various times and social levels of those who passed through there, with many of the miners leaving their lives there.

Dialogue between generations is another component of this initiative, as the action includes the participation of students, teachers and technicians from Eco-Escola das Ameiras, a basic education establishment in Grândola, whose school program is largely focused on in the municipality's environmental heritage, and which is a regular presence, always very interested, in the activities of the Festival Terras Sem Sombra.

Their interaction has already resulted in the creation of an open-air “Cork Oak Museum” and ongoing projects on the enhancement of cork oak forests and the safeguarding of the Serra de Grândola, where there are severe conservation problems for native species.

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