Almadén Mercury Mine

Timeline

1. c. -100–1450Almadén · AlmadénThe Almadén deposits produced cinnabar (mercury sulfide) since antiquity; they were systematically mined and mercury smelted under the Roman Empire, and continued in the Middle Ages as a major European mercury source for alchemy, medicine, and mining.
2. c. 1531–1540Almadén · AlmadénIn the 1530s the Spanish crown took the Almadén mercury mine under monopoly operation, expanding forced labor and smelting capacity; mercury was shipped via the port of Seville to Mexico and Peru for amalgam refining at silver mines such as Potosí, forming a transatlantic resource cycle.
3. c. 1600–2003Almadén · AlmadénFrom the 17th to the 20th century Almadén remained one of the world's largest mercury producers; it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012, and after mining ceased in 2003 it became a heritage and environmental remediation site.