In Italy they existed 51 gold mines: the 4 main ones were located in Piedmont (Pestarena, Guia), Aosta Valley (Chamousira) e Sardinia (Furtei). Gold has no longer been mined in Italy since 2009, but the most productive mines reached considerable levels, extracting up to 580 kg of pure gold per year.
The period of maximum extraction was between XVIII and the XX century. According to the Geological, Mining, Museum and Environmental database (GeMMA), surveyed by ISPRA (Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research) and made public in 2024, more than 3000 mining sitesof which 51 are dedicated to commercial gold mining. In many of these sites gold was the main, and sometimes only, cultivated mineral, extracted mainly from metamorphic veins. In other cases, however, it represented an impurity and was extracted together with other minerals, such as silver, pyrite, galena And chalcopyrite.
Italian gold mines are mainly located in the northern regions and, in particular, in the Alpine area, with the region Piedmont which matters a lot 44 sites Of extraction. 3 other sites are located in Trentino-Alto Adige2 mines are located in Val of Aosta and 1 in Lombardy. The only site outside this area is the Santu Miali I mine which is located in Sardiniain the municipality of Furtei, about 40 km east of Cagliari. This was also the last gold mine to stop mining, in 2009. Today, Italian gold mines are mostly abandoned or in the process of being reclaimed. Some, however, have been converted into real museums.
The 4 most active gold mines in Italy
Pestarena Mining Group (Piedmont)
The mining complex of Pestarena it is considered the largest and most important in Italy. Located on the slopes of Mt Rosein the Upper Anzasca Valley, in the municipality of Macugnaga (Piedmont), this mining district develops on gold-bearing veins within metamorphic rocks and includes over 10 extraction sites located at close distances.
According to tradition, it was the Celts or, later, the Romans who extracted gold from the veins of the valley. Historical documents of 1291 mention miners who used mercury to separate gold from ore, known as “homines argentarii”.
However, the first real impulse of mining activity occurred at the beginning of the 18th century, while production peaks were reached between the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century: gold production reached approximately 200 kg between 1868 and the 1870 and again between 1880 and the 1886. About 232 kg of pure gold were produced in 1887 and almost 250 kg In the 1940. The largest production ever, equal to 403 kgwas reached in 1942in a period when the mine counted beyond 800 workers. These moments of high productivity were alternated with long periods of inactivity or reduced production, due to multiple causes: fires, concession changes, economic crises and the two world wars. The last tragic event occurred in 1961when an accident cost the lives of four miners. Subsequently, mining activities were suspended, although the mining concessions remain formally valid until June 2050.
The Guia gold mine (Piedmont)
The gold mine of Guidelocated in the Fornarelli area of Macugnaga, in Piedmont, is undoubtedly one of the most important in the mining panorama of Italy. First, it’s about the first site Italian in which gold was extracted industrially, starting from 1710. However, historical finds testify that the gold deposit, located on the Mt Rosewas already known in Roman times. Here gold is found mainly in the form of impurities in pyrite and quartz minerals. The mine was also one of the most productive in Italy, with production peaks in 1942when they were extracted further 40,000 tons of raw ore from which approximately 408 kg of pure gold, and in 1948when gold production even reached 580 kg.
Mining activities ceased in 1961above all due to the achievement of a “technological block” which did not allow economically sustainable exploitation of the deposit, combined with growing foreign competition. Overall, the mining environment is characterized by a multi-tiered mining system, which is spread over 11 plans for a total length of approx 12 km of galleries. Of these, today approximately 1.5 km can be visited by tourists.
The Chamousira gold mine (Aosta Valley)
The mining site of Chamousiralocated in the Val d’Ayas near the municipality of Brusson (Valle d’Aosta), is considered the most important gold deposit in the region and is counted among the most relevant in the western sector of the Alps. The gold is mainly found within quartz veins in metamorphic rocks such as gneisses and calcium schists. In particular, three gold veins were cultivated at the beginning of the 20th century: the vein Phenillazwith an average thickness between 60 and 80 cmexploited on 7 levels; the Speranza vein, with an average thickness of about 30 cm, cultivated through two wells; the Gae Bianche vein, with a thickness of up to 1 metre, also exploited with two wells. According to various sources, the mine’s tunnel system extends for approximately 1,600.
As often happens with mining sites, the history of the Chamousira mine has also been characterized by alternating periods of intense activity and long moments of inactivity. The deposit was discovered in 1899 by the Swiss company Société des Mines d’or de l’Evançon, who exploited it until 1902. Subsequently, the concession passed to the English company The Evançon Gold Mining Company Ltd, active until 1908. Mining activity resumed temporarily in the 1930s and stopped in 1933.
Starting from the 70s and up to 2012the mine was the subject of illegal mining and vandalism. In 2012 the Municipality of Brusson ordered the total closure of the site until 2015, when it was converted into a museum. It is not clear how much gold was actually produced by the mine. Some estimates suggest between 4 and the 6 tons.
The Furtei gold mine (Sardinia)
As mentioned, the mine Furteiin Sardiniarepresents the only Italian gold site located outside the Alpine area and Northern Italy, and was also the last to cease activity, in 2009. The deposit was identified between 1988 and the 1991 thanks to the prospecting of the Progemisa company and AGIP Miniere. In the following years, an Australian company, in collaboration with Progemisa, established Sardinia Gold Mining SpA and took possession of the mining license.
At the site, the mineralizations occur both in the form of impuritywith dimensions between 20-100 micrometers, within sulfides such as pyriteboth as real ones gold veins. Cultivation took place mainly in the open air, through the progressive removal of materials and the deepening of the quarry, rather than with underground excavations. During the activities, approximately 5 tons of goldtogether with 6,000 tons Of silver and almost 20,000 tons of copper.
About 4,000-5,000 tons of earth was moved daily during the extraction activity and, on average, from each ton of rock treated approximately 3 grams of precious metal. The mine was abruptly abandoned in 2009thanks to the international economic crisis which made extraction costs unsustainable. The sudden outage left the site unremediated, with a heavily compromised landscape and beyond 2 million cubic meters of toxic waste, including cyanide used for gold separation, abandoned without any treatment. The reclamation works were only started in 2017 and are still ongoing, affecting an area of approximately 530 hectares.
