Mines of Punta Calamita in Capoliveri

Calamita Mine is on the south-eastern side of the Island of Elba along the Costa dei Gabbiani. When it was in use it was the major mine at the time, it is completely out in the open, and as the name suggests, the major mineral that was extracted was  magnetite.

Although the mining heritage in this area doesn't have all the structural richness that you can find in Ginevro Mine, the mining  sitesthat open up before your eyes seem more like natural, open-air amphitheatres, where the magnificent work plants of the past can still be easily seen even from the sea; there are still clear signs of the extraction work all over the surrounding territory: steep slabs, consisting of shiny, black rocks streaked with with blue and green that go right down down to the sea.

There was more than one site in Calamita mine. In the high part:

• Albaroccia: it takes up the highest part of the mine and is 300m above sea level; this is where Magnetite and Limonite were extracted.
• New Area: Magnetite, Ilvaite and Hedenbergite were extracted here.
• Polveraio: there are still the two buildings of the powder keg, explosives and mining explosives. The more recent powders date back to the 60s. Explosions for all the sites in Punta Calamita usually took place more or less once a month, and the buildings used in the past, a little further down, can still be seen today, but they are now surrounded by vegetation, and were probably later used for agricultural purposes, maybe even by the very owners of the mine.

In the lower area it was mostly Magnetite and some Hematite, though in a lesser quantity, that were extracted, but also malachite, azurite, chalcanthite, Dioptase, native copper and cuprite, and even erythrite (cobalt arsenate):

• Punta Rossa
• Macei Basso: this area is to the west of Punta Rossa and here magnetite was extracted.
• Vallone: from 160 metres to 15 metres below sea level (only probes were used for exploration).

Interesting information: Since the part around Vallone is where there are the most different types of minerals, it is a very popular destination of mine lovers who enjoy collecting minerals, and who are always in search of samples of azurite, malachite, chrysocolla, aragonite, chalk, garnet, epidote and ilvaite so that they can enrich their collection of minerals.

Since most of the production lines were also around Vallone, the area has now become the seat of the Museum in the old offices.

Thanks to the years of extraction work in Vallone, the area today has become a beautiful, white-sands beach, thanks to the heaps of iron-free minerals that were thrown down along the coast because at the time they were looked upon as waste.