Environmental Geology in Spain - Anthropocene

Newsfeed of the day

by Maya Schmitt

Photo credit: Katrin Kleemann

Anthropocene – gold mining in Rodalquilar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A birds-eye view down from the Rodalquilar gold mine overwhelms with sites of the old gold mine, the Albardinal botanical gardens, the town, the volcanic landscape and the ocean. In fact, gold mines are places of extraction of mineral resources. Therefore, they present a unique point of intersection of humankind and the natural environment.
Another interesting interplay of humans and nature in this area is that the old mine now lies in Natural Park of Cabo de Gata-Ni'jar, a protected region. Consequently, looking down at this area some questions arise:
What if it were not a protected nature reserve? Would it impact its current state? What if gold mining were to resume today? How would this alter and affect the landscape and the people living there?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even though we could not answer all these questions, one thought was that because the nature reserve is a protected area, it could be the only reason for the natural environment being so well intact and exempt from future interventions.
It is an eerie feeling to drive through the old mining region and witness high walls that have been left sculpted by industry for resources and once again move us to question our role and impact towards the environment.