Canto do Azeiche Mine (Canto do Azeche Mine), Mina do Azeiche, Pataias e Martingança, Alcobaça, Leiria, Portugali

Regional Level Types
Canto do Azeiche Mine (Canto do Azeche Mine)	Mine (Abandoned)
Mina do Azeiche	Mine (Abandoned)
Pataias e Martingança	Civil Parish
Alcobaça	Municipality
Leiria	District
Portugal	Country

Old asphalt mine - 1844/1861 (1844/1848, 1856/1861). This mine was the first location in Portugal where asphalt was extracted.

For about a century, an asphalt mine operated in the location of Azeche. The entrance to the mine and other remnants of this industrial complex are still visible - a distillation factory for asphalt, a customs post (which controlled the shipment of goods to a port on Mina Beach), a tile kiln for the production of various construction materials. There are also records of a chemical factory (which was fully constructed... but never came into operation).
The "Mina do Azeche" was the first place in Portugal where asphalt was extracted. In its first year of operation, 1844, approximately 500,000 tons of asphalt were extracted from here. This raw material was used to pave several streets in the Baixa and Chiado/Lisbon, as well as to surface all the railway stations from Lisbon to Elvas and from Entroncamento to Porto, built at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.
In AMA Paredes da Vitória, 2012

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The Azeiche Mine, located south of Paredes da Vitória Beach, represented a pioneering case of bitumen and asphalt exploration within the Portuguese context. It is considered the first exploration of hydrocarbons in Portugal. Exploration began in 1843, and on March 27, 1844, the first exploration license was issued. The mine was regularly exploited until 1848, when operations were suspended due to lack of profitability. In 1856, after the formation of a new company, operations were resumed. During this second concession, a vast industrial complex was built, including the Mine factory, which housed various machinery and boilers for asphalt distillation, lime and tile kilns, houses for miners, and a chemical products factory. Operations were again suspended in 1861, once again demonstrating the lack of profitability of the mine. Until the mid-20th century, sporadic extractions were carried out. Throughout the 20th century, various prospecting activities were conducted by English engineers, including the notable one in 1933 involving the opening of new galleries and shafts. The dispersion of asphalt deposits once again confirmed the lack of profitability of the mine.
CM Alcobaça website

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References