Rodalquilar
| Municipality of Níjar: Rodalquilar | |||
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| coat of arms | Map of Spain | ||
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| Basic data | |||
| Autonomous Community : | Andalusia | ||
| Province : | Almeria | ||
| Comarca : | Comarca Metropolitana de Almería | ||
| Coordinates | 36 ° 51 ′ N , 2 ° 3 ′ W | ||
| Residents : | 195 (2011) INE | ||
| Postal code : | 04115 | ||
| Area code: | 04066002000 | ||
Rodalquilar , in the Níjar district of the Andalusian province of Almería , is a former mining village in what is now the Cabo de Gata Natural Park . Its history can be traced back to the beginning of the sixteenth century, when Spaniards and Genoese mined alum in the El Playazo valley of Rodalquilar in the diocese of Almería . The mining was operated in varying extent from the 16th to the 20th century in various minerals and rocks: Amethyst for jewelry in the 18th century, kaolin for ceramics in the 19th and 20th centuries,Granite for pavement in the 20th century, lead and silver ores in the 19th, gold in the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1966, the gold mine was shut down by the owner company Adaro. In 1989 the mine was temporarily opened again, only to be closed permanently in 1990.
history
Rodalquilar experienced a true gold rush between 1880 and 1890 . Companies and individuals from different parts of Spain, Europe and America were involved in this intoxication. The gold was discovered in 1883 in the “Las Niñas” mine a few kilometers from Rodalquilar. This mine has been in production for years because of its lead ores containing silver. When the supplies were finally exhausted, the quartz-containing gangue began to be mined.
The epithermal quartz in the "Las Niñas" mine, which is not found anywhere else in Cabo de Gata, is of volcanic origin and differs very much from metamorphic quartzite . It turned out that this quartz was gold-bearing, which piqued the interest of the mine concessionaires. The big problem was that the gold in the epithermal quartz was only very finely distributed and therefore a special metallurgical technology was required for the extraction, which was not available in Rodalquilar. This problem was solved by shipping the quartz to Murcia for smelting , mainly to the Santa Elisa foundry in the port of Mazarrón , which also smelted lead ores. Gold-bearing lead was extracted in this way, which was then transported to Antwerp to separate lead and gold . In the period from 1931 to 1936, ie before the Civil War and before the later construction of the “Planta Denver” plant, in which cyanidation was used to extract gold, the total output was 1,044 kg of gold.
Nowadays, Rodalquilar is one of the most interesting attractions in the province of Almería, in the Cabo de Gata Natural Park. A visit is a must: for its mining history, metal extraction, geological features, for the two castles in the defense system of the ancient kingdom of Granada , for its spectacular landscape, for its beaches (El Playazo), for the people.
Attractions
The El Albardinal Botanical Garden is dedicated to the study and conservation of endemic and endangered plants in the province of Almería.
The administration of the Natural Park Cabo de Gata shows in the "Sala de Exposiciones" changing exhibitions on topics of the protection zone.
The "Centro Geoturistico de Rodalquilar", which was opened by the Junta de Andalucía at the end of 2007 in the converted "Casa PAF" of the former mining complex. In the building, after the welcome office, there are several rooms for the presentation of the geological heritage of the natural park and also of the wider Andalusia and a short tour of the history of the pits and the inhabitants of Rodalquilar. The original name of the building "Casa PAF" refers to the abbreviation for Precipitado, Afino, Fundición (precipitation, refinement, foundry).
The "Basin or Crater of Rodalquilar", currently incorrectly called "Valle de Rodalquilar" (Valley of Rodalquilar), is of primary geological interest, as it is a particularly clear example of a collapsed volcanic building . You can see the volcanic ruins from a single point. This is possible due to the caldera's relatively small diameter of 8 km east-west and 4 km north-south, which is relatively rare in this type.
The "Planta Denver", the installation for gold extraction by cyanidation , was in operation from 1956 to 1966 and is only in ruins. The plant was operated as a subsidiary of the Empresa Nacional Adaro (ENA) of the Instituto Nacional de Industria (INI), Adaro in memory of the Spanish mining pioneer Luis Adaro Magro (1849-1915). In these facilities, the gold from the various pits of Rodalquilar, mainly from the mountain range " Cerro Cinto ", was processed. The Denver company operated 75% of all gold production in Rodalquilar history. The ruins have been used as a backdrop in numerous films.
Culture
In November 2015, the Berlin-born musician and DJ Bluestaeb released an album entitled "Rodalquilar" on Jakarta Records . In the broadest sense, the album is an homage to the village in which he spent a total of around three years of his life.
