Italy boasts a rich mining historywith beyond 3,000 sites distributed throughout the national territory and numerous deposits and mines that have had a significant impact on the Italian and European economy. Our country is currently hosting 76 active mining siteswhich in some cases are among the more productive mineral deposits of Europe and the world and include resources such as titaniumThe copper and the rock salt.
The size and importance of a mining site can be assessed according to several criteria, includingareal extension on the surface and underground, the depthThe volume from the resourcethe quantity of material extracted and the typology of ore. Also the period of activity constitutes a determining factor, as it is conditional extractive technologies available and, consequently, the estimate of reservesunderstandings like that portion of the mineral resource that is technically and economically exploitable at a given historical moment. It seems obvious that advances in extraction technologies make it possible today to recover much more significant volumes of resources than those accessible at the beginning of the 19th century. Consequently, establishing which are the largest mineral deposits in Italy is not a linear task and, to date, there is no real official ranking.
An updated overview of the mining sites present on Italian territory is available in the database Gem (Geological, Mining, Museum and Environmental), published byISPRA (Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research) in 2024. They were registered 3009 mining sites including sites operational, not operational, abandoned and currently undergoing interventions treatment And maintenance. These sites include a wide range of resources, ranging from minerals intended for the ceramic industry, such as feldsparsup to critical and strategic raw materials for the energy and technological transition, such as cobalt, tungsten And lithium. Furthermore, the database reports information relating to the period of activity and theextension of individual mining sites.
Based on the information contained in the GeMMA database, just some of the main and largest historic and active Italian mining sites are described below.
The Realmonte salt mine (Sicily)
From the GeMMA database it emerges that, among the 76 currently active mining sitesthe mine of Realmontelocated near Agrigentoin the Sicily south-western, represents one of the largest deposits extended. Active since 1951the mine is dedicated to the cultivation of rock saltthe common table salt, formed during the Crisis of salinity of the Messinianabout 6 million years ago.
The mining complex consists of a network of galleries underground which develop for approximately 130km and reach depths greater than 300 meters. The total estimated reserves correspond to approximately 70 million tons of rock salt, to which significant quantities of are added kainitea potassium mineral. Every year they are extracted on average approximately 1 million tons of rock salt from this site.
The Balangero asbestos mine (Piedmont)
The mine amiantiferous Of Balangerolocated near the Mount San Vittoreabout 30 km north of Turin, was the largest open pit mine Of asbestos in Europe and one of the main in the world during its period of activity, between 1918 and 1990.
The site was dedicated to the extraction of asbestos and other metal ores for industrial use, with an annual production reaching 140,000 tons. The mineralization develops within metamorphic rocks serpentinitic fracturedwhose overall extension is approximately 7 km².
With the closure of the quarry in 1990, following the entry into force of the regulations on the dangers of asbestos, a vast project was started for the safety and environmental remediation of the entire site.
The Piampaludo titanium deposit (Liguria)
Located in Massive of Voltriwithin the Beigua Park near Savona, the Piampaludo deposit represents the largest deposit of titanium in Italy and one of the largest in the world. Estimates indicate the presence of at least 9 million tons of titaniferous mineralslike rutile.
Despite the size of the deposit and the relevance of titanium, included in the list of so-called critical and strategic raw materials of the European Commissionthe Piampaludo deposit is currently not exploited.
The Caporciano copper mine (Tuscany)
Located near Montecatini Val di Cecinain Tuscany, the mine Of Caporciano it is one of the oldest and most well-known mines in copper of the Italian territory, as well as one of the largest. The first evidence of its exploitation dates back to 1466although some clues suggest a discovery already at that time Etruscan. Between the 1827 and 1907the year of its closure, the Caporciano mine was considered the largest and most productive copper mine in Europewith a total production of approximately 30,000 tons of copper.
The deposit develops within an approximately long basaltic lens 2km and thick up to 200 meters, incorporated within Cretaceous sedimentary rocks. The mine was articulated on ten levels undergroundconnected by a dense network of wells And galleries which reached an overall development of approximately 35kmdug to access the mineralized body.
