More Mining in Granada

Believe it or not, today there are still 72 operational mines within the province of Granada, giving employment to 500 people, but there will soon be more.

The reason why is that for the first time in seven years the Junta de Andalucía has opened up new mining rights because it believes that the province could have a “strategic roll” in this field.

Consequently, the Junta put up for tender a total of 62 mining rights for prospecting valuable minerals as a first step. In the Regional Gazette (BOJA) on the 7th of June the Junta published that three mining companies had come forward, but only one of which was chosen: a Madrid-based company called Tolsa.

Tolsa has the mining rights to prospect in 14 mining plots within the municipalities of Fonelas y Villanueva in search of Bentonite.

Bentonite a swelling clay which has the ability to absorb large quantities of water, which increases its volume by up to a factor of eight, making it a valuable adsorbent, such as a binder and as an additive to improve the plasticity of kaolinite clay used for pottery and… cat litter. 

All told the province has 1,120 mining plots (totalling 36,960 hectáreas affecting 40 municipalities, including public – monte/municipal – and private land) for which mining companies can bid for prospecting rights with a total of five years to complete this task of finding out if a mining operation is commercially viable.

These mining plots include mining for lead in the Sierra de Lújar, between Vélez de Benaudalla and Órgiva; mining for marble in Puebla de Don Fadrique; Limestone in Loja and for gold in Caniles. Finally the mining rights for the old mines of La Calahorra or Alquife might be revived. Obviously some of the eventual mining operations will be open mining (quarries).

(News: Granada, Andalucia)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *