Rio Tinto Mines, Minas de Riotinto, Huelva, Andalusia, Spain

A massive sulphide (VMS) deposit located on the Rio Tinto river. In the past, it was mainly worked for pyrite; presently the gossan is worked for gold. Mining seems to have begun during the Phoenician period. Thus, this mine is perhaps the oldest major mine in the world.

NOTES:
- Before the township Minas de Riotinto was formed in 1841, the Rio Tinto mines belonged to Nerva township.
- Some pyrites sold as coming from here actually come from the Ambasaguas or Navajun mines in La Rioja, Spain.

References:
- Mineralogical Record 27(4), 275-285.
- Leistel, J.M., Marcoux, E., Thiéblemont, D., Quesada, C., Sánchez, A., Almodóvar, G.R., Pascual, E., and Sáez, R. (1998): The volcanic-hosted massive sulphide deposits of the Iberian Pyrite Belt. Mineralium Deposita 33, 2-30.
- Nehlig, P., Cassard, D., and Marcoux, E. (1998): Geometry and genesis of feeder zones of massive sulphide deposits: constraints from the Rio Tinto ore deposit (Spain). Mineralium Deposita 33, 137-149.
- Calvo, M., Gómez, F., and y Viñals, J. (1999): Mineralogía de la Faja Pirítica Ibérica. Bocamina 4, 50-86.