This is another day trip I made with my buddy Michael C while I was working in Vitoria Spain.
I went looking for the famous Victoria pyrite mine in Navajun, Spain. Ampliacion de Victoria Mine, Navajun

I was hoping to get permission from the owner and pay to collect for a few hours, but mostly to document the mine with some photography.
We headed south from Vitora, crossing the Cantabrian mountains, using the scenic route called A 2124. Much used by cyclists because of the curvaceous and photogenic views. The road heads south and descends steeply from the Cantabrian mountains into the Ebro basin toward Laguardia. We entered the age old wine country of Rioja, descending from Alava.
There is parking for the Balcon de Rioja which is a must for a pull over. This is an overlook over the Rioja wine lands in the Ebro Basin. A descent of over a thousand feet in a few kilometers produces a fantastic view southward. It feels like looking out from a balcony over Rioja. The climate changes from humid to a more arid Mediterranean climate.
We continued towards Navajun using a GSP in the car. I kept saying don’t rely on it! And sure enough, it lead us into the narrowest streets in existence until we passed through the plaza in Cornago. Later we found this was a town, a barrio, with some of the narrowest streets in Spain. That is narrow like motorscooter narrow or about as wide as a goat. So we ended up winding from the center of the town, back tracking to find the nearest autoroute. I stopped to ask in broken Spanish how to exit the town. I was told the road straight ahead would be a problem, since there were tables (mesas) in the street. It was a fiesta!
5 miles to the northwest is Ambas Aguas, where very nice pyrite crystals are still found in local quarries. Ambasaguas

I did not know this at the time and I was headed to Navajun after leaving Cornago.


Once we found the route L-490 we found our way to Navajun. This barrio is nestled with stone houses climbing into the backdrop of the Sierras Alcamara


You can read more about the history and geology of the area on page 5 of March 2006 Mineral of the Month: Pyrite, www.mineralofthemonthclub.com.
We found that Navajun has mostly been vacated leaving about 20 residents today. The stone built houses are a throw back in time. When we entered the barrio, our intention twere to find the proprieter of the Victoria Mine and ask for permission to look around and collect. We walked around the small village and could not find a living human soul, but instead it seemed taked over by cats. Finally we found an old senor who tried to direct us but it seemed there was really no one around. We found the road to the mine gated, so respecting the fact, we looked in gravel in the near by road and ground and found small pyrite cubes..<>

Later leaving Navajun on L-490, just past Valdemaderra, another small village, we turned up a road taking us into a new wind farm which follows the crest of Sierra Alcamara. One and a third miles north of Valdemaderra on the ridge of the Sierra Alcamara there were recent rock pieces which had been dug up for the new wind generator foundations. I found some nice clear quartz xls. by opening up some veins in the rocks. Later heading to the NE about 3.8 miles on the wind generator road, as it followed the crest, I stopped to enjoy a view of the surrounding mountains and terraces. We took a video of the Gamesa wind generators turning kinetic energy into electricity. Really, it was an impressive sight. At the last stop, before we started to descend, I noticed the rock lieing about was fossiliferous and full of gastropod and bivalve casts. (probably Wealdenia and Unio sp). Also I noted the top of the mountains were vegetated with a waist high crop of some bushes with stickly leaves and giving off a nice scent with natural purple crocus growing on the ground. Something I never saw outside of a garden...We left the sierra by driving Northeast and we headed toward Cornago again, and then continuing toward Encino, which is known for its dinosaur prints. We were following LR 355 and stopped at the paleologic park El Valle de Cidacos and then we stopped at a second called los Cayos de Cornago. Here there were more well preserved tracks and even real dinosaurs life size models. These are well preserved tracks in Cretaceous sediment formed in alluvial basin. Iguanodontia, therapods and many other types of tracks are found.


All in all it was a rewarding day for photography and adventure. Next time I would have tried to contact the owner in advance but since we were both working in Spain we had to take the time available and run with it.

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