Panning is increasingly popular in Asturias but also in the northern regions of Galicia and León – particularly around the famous roman mines of las Medulas, and around the gold-rich fault that runs through Zamora, Salamanca and Extremadura, where large nuggets weighing up to 50 grams have turned up.There are lots of nuggets in that area.
Andalucía is a region rich in minerals. There are two distinct geological zones which are divided by the River Guadalquivir basin and its East North-East/West South-West axis.
The traditional gold mining regions – dating back to Roman times– are in Galicia and Asturias, and that is where there are thought to be some of the biggest untapped gold deposits left in Western Europe.
1 EL VALLE BOINAS GOLD MINE
2 MARTA GOLD MINE
3 RODAILQUILAR GOLD MINE
Gold Fever in Rodalquilar
Many small mines opened up with small groups of miners chasing seams of gold with hand tools. This gold is not found in nuggets but is encrusted into the mineral-laden rock and called ore.
RIO TINTO MINES
The Río Tinto mines, located in the north of Huelva province, are reputed to be the oldest mines in the world, with the exception of mines in Cyprus.
LA JOYA
La Joya is an old mining settlement named after the Arroyo de la Joya, some 70 kilometres north of Huelva, close to the Atlantic and the Portuguese border in the Comarca (area) of La Andavalo, west of the sierra de Aracena .
ALQUIFE
Alquife has historically been a mining village in Spain
Minas de Cala
This almost-abandoned mining village in the north of the province of Huelva is located a few kilometres from the border with the region of Extremadura and province of Badajoz.
