Guided tour to the exhibition “Mining equipment” in Masua
From the pick to the pneumatic hammers, through the carts, the excavators, the wagons for transporting minerals and miners.
These are some of the many items of machinery for mining exposed in Masua - Iglesias, a large area managed by IGEA, which is a unique witness to the history of mining.
Man, since antiquity, in order to take possession of the minerals, faced arduous enterprises, dug into the rock and made holes in the mountains in search of raw materials, so precious and desired.
It was a strenuous activity that has left us a wealth of experiences and memories, achievements and losses, for example losses of human lives.
Since the dawn of history, the epic of Sardinian mines continued until the present day and have been summarized in a unique exhibition of machinery.
Devi Sapere che
You must know that
Miners have always used tools of excavation, sometimes simple, sometimes complex, which involved an exhausting physical labor. It was partly mitigated by a great technical innovation, perhaps the greatest of all time: the advent of explosives.
The epic of the industrial mining in Iglesias is part of this context: the vast mining areas, created in 1850, have benefited from the use of the most up-to-date and technologically advanced mechanical means, which in fact have started the mechanization of the Sardinian mines .
This process was helped by the great creativity and professionalism of the mine technicians who were facilitated by technical inventions, modifications and engineering solutions designed for the excavation of the mountains, the extraction of minerals, the securing of the work sites, their construction and connection with plants, roads, and much more.
Progressively, the backbreaking work that since the Middle Ages was based on the strength of man and of the few working tools and pack animals, has culminated with the creation of an industrial production system which is in the van in the world.
Since 1980, the need to give a strong impetus to the production gave way to the introduction of large machines, which allowed the rapid "cultivation" of large mineralized areas and the processing of the extracted raw materials.
Curiosità
Curiosities
The lead and zinc mines of Sardinia, for the need to adapt the machines and make them more suited to the different purposes, have represented a testing ground for many manufacturers.
One example among many is the auto-excavator Montevecchio. His prototype was designed and manufactured in the workshops of the company that transferred the patent to the company Atlas Copco. The museum of the mining equipments is a tangible encyclopedic exhibition of over 70 machines and special equipments for mining operations, all with a story to tell.
Come raggiungere il sito
How to reach the site
View the map
Guided tours are effected by appointment by calling from Monday to Friday, 9.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m., +39 0781 491300.
For schools and groups a deposit is needed, equivalent to the 30% of the total amount, to effect by transfer in postal c/c n. 14354096 to IGEA SpA – Interventi Geo Ambientali specifying the reason for payment. The demonstration of the payment must be anticipated by fax to +39 0781 491395.
e-mail: segr.dir@igeaspa.it on working days.
FARES:
Adults: E 3.00
Youth (6 to 12): E 1.00
Groups (at least 20 paying adults): E 2.00
Schools: E 1.00
Over 65: E 1.00
Images
