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Mines/Slovenia

Idrija mercury mine

Idrija mercury mine, Slovenia. Heritage site, underground, mining mercury.

Why Idrija mercury mine is famous

The museum counts mining from 1490 and held a 500th anniversary of the discovery of mercury ore in 1990. Cinnabar dye was made from the start of mining until 1922. The Kamst pumping system drew pit water from 283 m. The 283 m is a pumping depth, not the mine floor.1,2

Story cards

Idrija mercury mine today

Mining in Slovenia

Where next

Mines

An example ofHuancavelica mercury mineIdrija counts mining from 1490. Huancavelica began in 1564 and fed Potosi.1Partner ofAlmaden mercury minesAlmaden and Idrija joined the World Heritage List together in 2012.3

Places

Located inIdrijaIdrija mercury mine sits at Idrija.1

Sources

  1. Top 10 attractions, item 6054 (mercury, red dye) Mestni muzej Idrija (Idrija and Cerkno museums)
  2. Wikidata item Q12073970 (Idrija mine) Wikidata (CC0)
  3. The Almaden mines, a World Heritage Site marked by Islamic heritage Fundacion Cultura Islamica (funci.org)

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: The Big Hole by Rudolph Botha, CC BY-SA 3.0.