Las Minas del Rio Tinto

I went on my first real field trip with the students in level four last Monday. They had been studying the English influence on some of the local mining companies that were in the area in recent history. They had to do reports on one of them and then the field trip was to a second company, about an hour outside of Huelva by bus.

It was my first time really seeing another part of Huelva. I had heard of Rio Tinto before but had never actually seen it. At parts it looked like rust and in other areas the water looked bloody.

The first stop was however in the mining museum where we met the tourguide. The tour would be in English because it was through an English class. I was soon overwhelmed because I hadn't studied geology for something like 12 or 13 years. I only hoped the names of rocks were similar between the two languages. I also learned that their were mines in the area dating back to the Roman Empire.

The second part of the tour was a train ride which went through some of the mining area. We saw old trains, train stations, and different types of rock and natural resources including the Rio Tinto. An interesting bit of information from the area is that NASA and scientists used it for the "Mars Project" comparing it to the surface of Mars.

And the final part of the trip was to an old mine which had filled with water. To access it, one must have a tour guide who will unlock the tunnel. Before going in he told everyone we must wear a helmet. We walked through and found the following scene.