Minerals

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Minerals

"Insula inexhaustis chalibum generosa metallis", as Virgil in the Aeneid defined the island of Elba and its metalliferous deposits, so rich to be believed inexhaustible.

The abundance of the Elban subsoil has been known and exploited since ancient times, so much so as to deeply characterize its history, essential to that of mining.
It is no coincidence that the ancient name given by the Greek navigators on Elba, Aethalia (the sooty), comes from the fumes of the Etruscan melting furnaces that, in continuous activity in reducing iron, created a sooty hood that covered the entire island.
From that moment on, to witness the extraordinary geodiversity of this island, generations of miners and scholars have dedicated their lives to digging into the bowels of the earth bringing to the surface a great deal of wealth and beauty, today can be admired in mineralogical museums and mining parks.

Mineralsin the Museum System