Miniere di Darzo


Useful Information

Location: Darzo, Valle del Chiese. The trip starts at Darzo, visitors are driven to the mining village by minibus.
Open: JUN to OCT Fri, Sat, Sun 9, 14.
Reservation 3 days in advance required.
[2020]
Fee: Adults EUR 17, Children (5-14) EUR 12, Children (0-4) EUR 3.
[2020]
Classification: MineBaryte Mine
Light: LightIncandescent
Dimension:
Guided tours: D=3.5 h.
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: no
Bibliography:
Address: Miniere di Darzo, Piazza 16ᵒ Reggim. Artiglieria, 10/c, 38089 Darzo TN, Tel: +39-328-2419981. E-mail:
Reservation: Tel: +39-328-0007711. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1894 discovery and opening of the first baryte mines.
2005 project to protect the history of the mining started by Pro Loco di Darzo.
2009 mining ended.

Geology

The baryte at Darzo was exceptional, as it was extremely pure. There was no ore in the veins, which would have changed the colour. This was important, because this baryte was mainly used for the production of pigments, in other words to produce white colour. It was used for painting and for photographic paper.

Description

The first mine near Darzo, the Quella di Marìgole mine, was opened by Giacomo Corna Pellegrini in 1894. He learned that baryte and iron ore were often connected. This mine became the longest working mine in the area and was last one closed in 2009.

A second mine was opened by Carlo Maffei named miniera di Val Cornèra. He also operated a mill in Nozza, which he relocated closer to the mine in 1909, to Ponte Caffaro. Finally he built a plant at Daro in 1925. His mine operated until the mid sixties.

And finally there was Felice Cima. He obtained a mining license in the neighboring town Storo. When his mine closed in 1976 it was purchased by Pellegrini, like the Val Cornèra mine before, and they were finally the main baryte mine named Baritina Mineraria.

The participants of the mine tour are carried to the abandoned miner village Marigole at 1.100 m asl above Darzo with a minibus. From the miner cottage with its red shutters the tour goes up the railroad tracks of the former funicular. Visitors are equipped with a helmet and enter one of the abandoned mine tunnels, the miniera di “S. Barbara”. The tour includes a vein of barite which was not mined. Back at the miner cottage the exhibition in the building is visited. It shows the typical equipment of miners, like the carbide lamps.

Probably the most interesting thing at the mines is the unique mining technique developed by Piero Corna Pellegrini in the 1970s. The secured the mined dykes with concrete so he was able to mine the baryte completely. The other mines had to leave pillars to make the mine stable, a traditional technique called room and pillar.