Montevecchio Mines, Guspini, South Sardinia Province, Sardinia, Italyi

Regional Level Types
Montevecchio Mines	Group of Mining Areas (Tourist Attraction)
Guspini	Commune
South Sardinia Province	Province
Sardinia	Autonomous Region
Italy	- not defined -

Famous Pb-Zn-Ag mining area located in the municipal territories of Guspini and Arbus, near the village of Montevecchio (also known as Gennas Serapis), and part of the Montevecchio-Ingurtosu-Gennamari mining district, once one of the largest in Italy and Europe, which exploited the homonymous quartz-sulphide lode system emplaced within Ordovician metasediments near the contact with the Hercynian Arburese granitoid batholith.

Archaeological findings in the Montevecchio area show that, in Roman times, workings were conducted in the upper parts of these lodes, and it is quite likely that previous mining operations did occur (lead and silver were surely used by the Nuragic people of the Bronze Age, and were certainly traded by Phoenicians and Carthaginians). Moreover, important mining operations during the Pisan and Aragonese periods (Middle to Modern Ages) are well documented. But the industrial activity proper began in 1848, when the King of Sardinia, Charles Albert of Savoy, issued a series of perpetual mining concessions, thus giving birth to the modern mine. It ceased operations in 1991.

The mining area is now part of the Geological, Mining, Historic and Environment Park of Sardinia (Parco Geominerario Storico ed Ambientale della Sardegna) – Sardinia UNESCO Global Geopark.

The Montevecchio mining area includes numerous underground workings, which followed the various mineralised veins, located to the east and to the west of Montevecchio (Gennas Serapis) village. The eastern workings (Montevecchio Levante) include the mines Piccalìnna (San Giovanni shaft), Sant'Antonio (Sant'Antonio shaft), and Mezzéna (Sartòri shaft); the western workings (Montevecchio Ponente) include the mines Sanna, Telle (Amsìcora shaft), and Casàrgiu (Fàis shaft).

In particular, the Montevecchio-Ingurtosu vein system, prevailingly oriented NE-SW, extends for 10 km and was exploited down to 800 meters in depth; the vein thickness ranges from 1.50 to 7–8 meters, and the total belt width is never less than 6 meters. The main metalliferous minerals of the vein system are galena and sphalerite; the gangue is essentially composed of quartz, with accessory baryte, siderite, ankerite, calcite, and fluorite. The superficial parts of the mineralised veins are characterized by an alteration zone of iron, lead, and copper oxides (with a width between 10 and 80 meters). Galena is essentially associated with a quartz-baryte gangue, while sphalerite is associated with a carbonatic gangue (ankerite and siderite).

The Sant'Antonio vein was the most important in the Montevecchio deposit; it was developed in length for 1500 meters, in depth for around 600 meters, and its width reached 15 meters on average. Like all the others, this vein shows a vertical zonation with the prevalence of Ag-rich galena in the upper parts, Ag-rich galena and Cd-rich sphalerite in the intermediate parts, and pyrite with chalcopyrite and sterile quartz in the deepest zones. The Piccalìnna vein is characterized by the same extension and vertical zonation as the Sant'Antonio vein, but with a smaller width. The Sanna and Casàrgiu veins, limited in width and depth, have a primary mineralization consisting of sphalerite in ankeritic gangue. The Telle vein has a mineralization consisting of galena in quartz or calcitic gangue.

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