Moscona Mine, Solís, Corvera de Asturias, Villabona mining area, Asturias, Spain

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Mina Moscona, Solís, Zona Minera de Villabona, Corvera de Asturias, Asturias, España

Fluorite stratiform at the same level (Permo-Triassic) as in Arlós.
Baryte is a late phase.
T homogeneization = 75-80 °C.
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The Moscona Mine, located in the region of Llano de Solís, a town within Corvera de Asturias, was registered with concession number 29.811 in 1968 by the Minas de Miranda Company that rented it to Minersa in January, 1977. Thus it can be considered to be a ‘young’ mine on the Asturian Fluorite mining scene.

During the following year Minerales y Productos Derivados S.A. developed an inclined plane in the aforementioned area of Llano de Solís, with a steep 15% gradient. Since that time it has become one of the most productive mines out of all the Spanish mines that are known for their mineral specimens.

Due to the positive results obtained by the geology team investigating the deposit, an extension of the concession was made, marking out the neighboring areas with new permits (Julio no. 30.185, Monteana no. 30,286 and La Mora, no. 30.287).

The present extent of the mining works covers about 5 square km. with an operating system that uses chambers and pillars on two levels. The extraction of the fluorite is carried out using conventional equipment (trucks and mechanical shovels) and a transport and loading system for the ore that was established for the first time in Spain by Minersa in the Cucona Mine, Villabona mining district.

To give an idea of the large area covered by the network of galleries inside the mine we can say that a loaded truck takes about an hour and a half between the farthest point of mining and the mouth of the mine. From the beginning it has been the company’s the most productive mine for Asturian fluorite and one of the most competitive ones in Europe, with very significant production levels that nowadays can reach 5 million tons with an CaF2 average yield of over 30%

From a mineralogical point of view, we are talking about a locality that has produced millions of crystallized specimens of fluorite, barite, dolomite and calcite. Other minerals complete the paragenesis, such as sulfides: sphalerite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, cinnabar, tetrahedrite, carbonates such as azurite and malachite, and the least common being aurichalcite. Other secondary lead minerals have also been identified, such as anglesite and recently, in the second level known as “El Plano” nice quartz crystals measuring several centimeters.

The beauty and the combinations between these minerals found at Moscona Mine mean that many collectors have them in their collections. It must be noted that the fluorite is found in crystal layers with nearly total predominance of the color yellow, although in a very few cases pockets with violet-blue crystals have been found. Another distinctive mineral for this deposit is the barite that often has a natural blue color while those crystals that were originally white can be exposed to the sun or another UV radiation source to turn them into blue. This phenomenon seems to be caused by the appearance of color centers related to relatively low energy sources (visible light, 3 eV, short wave length UV, 5 eV) as has been reported for similar cases (The Physics and Chemistry of Color, K. Nassau, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York 2nd Edition 2001).

The widespread distribution of calcite within the mine and the great variety of crystalline habits found for this mineral are the reasons for calcite to be one of the most sought after species from the Moscona Mine.

In this mine large pockets have been found that reach significant sizes of up to 10 meters long, sometimes taking up the entire forward gallery, and from which thousands of specimens were extracted. An outstanding pocket was the great barite one found in 1993 with tabular, blue barite crystals up to 20 cm in length.

Mineral List

Anglesite Aurichalcite Azurite Baryte Calcite

Chalcopyrite Cinnabar Dolomite Fluorite Galena

Malachite Marcasite Pyrite Quartz Sphalerite

Sphalerite var: Marmatite Tetrahedrite

17 entries listed. 16 valid minerals.

References