Gambatesa Mine, Reppia, Ne, Genoa, Liguria, Italyi

Regional Level Types
Gambatesa Mine	Mine (Tourist Attraction)
Reppia	Village
Ne	Valley
Genoa	Metropolitan City
Liguria	Administrative Region
Italy	- not defined -

Located near Reppia in eastern Liguria. A major Italian manganese ore deposit.

The Gambatesa mine was an underground mine from which braunite was extracted, a mineral that contains manganese for the production of quality steel; the mine was also exploited by Italsider.

The former mine is located in the municipality of Ne, in the metropolitan city of Genoa, in the Graveglia valley, on the provincial road 26 to Varese Ligure (SP) and the Biscia pass (892 m). The site was reopened to the public in 2016 with guided tours as a mere mining museum.

Initially, pyrite was extracted from the old mine, now abandoned, in the eighteenth century. From 15 March 1876 the concession was given to the French engineer Auguste Fages for the extraction of iron and copper, then the activity concentrated on the extraction of braunite, rich in manganese, making it the largest mine in Europe.

Subsequently, increasing in importance, in 1939 it passed under the Società Anonima Mineraria Siderurgica, and from 1964 the concession passed to Italsider until 1971, when the closure of the mine was declared. The mine's production reached 50,000 tons per year in the 1960s, with employment (relating to the entire Gambatesa mining district) exceeding 600 workers. The mine concession was 65 hectares in 1972.

Subsequently reopened by a company made up of miners in 1976 – called “Sil.Ma” – and included in the Aveto Regional Natural Park since 1995, the Gambatesa mine has had a new phase of relaunch since 2000 with the opening of the same to the tourist public, effectively becoming a “mining museum”, with the organization of daily guided tours inside the extraction site. The visitors, accompanied by guides, use – for the first section of exploration – a train already in use by the miners. It is made up of small carriages obtained from the transformation of vehicles previously used for the transport of extracted materials, pulled by two accumulator locomotives, built in Milan by EMAM in 1954. All material is 500 mm gauge.

On 31 December 2009, mining ceased definitively and, in 2013, also the public access for tourism purposes. The Aveto Park Authority and the Liguria Region subsequently worked on the regulatory adaptation necessary for its reopening, which occurred on 9 December 2016.

Note on the mine name: Recent research did not find any references indicating that, at any time, the name of the ex “Gambatesa nuova” mine is, was or has ever been the “Valgraveglia mine”. For more info, see https://www.mindat.org/mesg-602431.html

Note on the GPS coordinates: The Italian Wikipedia page currently (October 2023) erroneously lists the GPS coordinates for the (unrelated) Fornace Quarry (https://www.mindat.org/loc-289745.html).

Note on the mineral list:

Previously reported lime and portlandite are of anthropogenic origin (matrix of jasper + Portland cement) used for the mine buildings, see

1) Ciriotti, M.E., Möckel, S. (2004) Novità 2003 da Gambatesa: manganarsite (3° ritrovamento mondiale), calce (“lime”) e portlandite. Micro (UK report): 1/2004: 7-12.

2) Marchesini, M., Bracco, R., Ciriotti, M.E., Möckel, S. (2007) Niente “calce” e “portlandite” a Gambatesa. Micro (UK report): 1/2007: 67-68.

Other Databases

Wikipedia:	https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miniera_di_Gambatesa
Wikidata ID:	Q3858431

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References