Mines of Punta Calamita in Capoliveri

The Calamita Mine is located on the southeast side of the Island of Elba, from where it dominates the Costa dei Gabbiani. It was the most important of the Capoliveri mines and, as the name suggests, it has a predominance of magnetite mineralization.

The area is still deeply marked by the extraction activities: on the coast, steep terraces rich in black shining rocks and blue and green streaks slope down to the sea. In the upper part, the worksites appear as natural open-air amphitheaters, where the old and imposing processing plants are clearly visible, even from the sea.

Inside the Calamita mine, several worksites operated. In the upper part:

• Albaroccia: occupies the highest part of the mine, up to 300m above sea level; here, magnetite and limonite were extracted.
• Nuova Zona: magnetite, ilvaite, and hendenbergite were extracted.
• Macei Alto: magnetite, hematite, and hendenbergite.
• Polveraio: contains the two powder magazine buildings, explosives, and mining devices. The new powder magazines date back to the 1960s. Explosives were deposited monthly for all the worksites of Punta Calamita. The buildings previously used are still existing, located lower down, covered by vegetation, and were later used for agricultural purposes, possibly by the area supervisors.

In the lower part, magnetite was mainly extracted, and in smaller quantities, hematite, along with malachite, azurite, calcanite, dioptase, native copper, cuprite, and even erythrite (cobalt arsenate):

• Punta Rossa: where mainly limonite was extracted.
• Macei Basso: located west of Punta Rossa, for extracting magnetite.
• Vallone: from 160 meters to -15 meters (explored only through surveys).

Curiosity: The area around Vallone contains much of the mineralogical variety, making it a destination for enthusiasts and collectors looking for specimens of Azurite, Malachite, Chrysocolla, Aragonite, Gypsum, Garnets, Epidote, and Ilvaite to enrich their mineral collection.

Most of the productive structures were also located around Vallone. Today, the area is home to the Old Workshop Museum.

Infoelba recommends: Following the extraction activity at the Vallone worksite, the beautiful white beach of Cannello was created, formed from the accumulation of non-ferrous minerals, which were discarded onto the coast as waste.