MINERALS AND TREASURES OF THE EARTH. GEOLOGICAL CLASSROOM EXHIBITION. MÁLAGA-COSTA DEL SOL (SPAIN)
Málaga province located at the south of Spain and in the border of Europe, attaches an outstanding and remarkable richness in mineral resources diversity. The source of these mineralogical features is due to the proximity of plate boundaries limit inside a compressive geological scenario, where African and Euroasian plates have been crashing since late Cretacic age (100 Mll.years).
This hazard is the origin of our relief, a huge mountain range raised up parallel to the Mediterranean Sea coast.
Mountain peaks like Maroma to the east (Axarquía 2.065m ASL) and Torrecilla to the west (Serrania de Ronda, 1.919m ASL) enhance our highest rocky elevations along such extraordinary mountain range. These outcrops of minerals resources and base metals (platinum, gold, bismuth,etc..) have been also related to the presence of alpine peridotites, lherzolite Type (Ronda Massif) emplaced inside a violent geological settings. Moreover the frequency and richness of iron deposits were the fundamentals of foundries and smelting plants, which were founded at XVIII century (in 1735 San Miguel Foundry in Júzcar municipality), and during early XIX century (La Concepción in 1826 and La Constancia Málaga in 1833).
Minerals and Treasures of the Earth, is presented to society as a private and enterprising project, promoted by professionals who concerned the underestimated value of geological science in our current society, as a model of sustainability and prosperity in its different disciplines; mining history, mineralogy and petrology, palaeontology, land and geological hazard assessment, geotechnical engineering, hydrogeology, among many others.