El manganeso en la provincia de Huelva. Producción histórica y propuesta de recuperación de pasivos mineros

Resumo

Mineral deposits are the most important part of society's means of production. Mining is the industrial activity consisting of the selective extraction, through the application of mining techniques and the use of explosives, of substances and minerals existing in the earth's crust, in such a way that it is economically profitable. The lesser or greater mining activity has been subject to external influences that have little to do with the volume of exploitable resources, but rather with the profitability of extracting or not extracting the mineral in terms of the market. As a result, history reflects periods of more or less activity in this sector, fluctuations which have also been experienced during the years of manganese ore extraction. The province of Huelva has been a reference point in national manganese production, generating more than 80% of total production. However, due to the discovery of large sedimentary deposits in other countries such as Russia, Brazil and Ghana, manganese mining in Huelva lost its importance as it involved surface exploitation and exploitation. At present, a large number of manganese mines have been inventoried, many of which are associated with dumps that form a large mining environmental liability, with the corresponding landscape and soil degradation. This liability is made up of chert gangue, with a high SiO2 content. These characteristics mean that it can be used in the composition of structural concrete. The use of this material for the manufacture of concrete would allow the reuse of manganese-bearing waste, thus turning it into an environmental asset, and there are numerous sources of exploitation in the province of Huelva, which have already been identified.