The Fígols-St. Cornelius basin located in Berguedà has one of
the highest content of carbonaceous sediments in Catalonia. This is an area with
great lithological diversity, with layers of sandstone, lutites, marl, limestone
and coal. It is one of Catalonia's most significant areas for mining heritage
and is currently undergoing restoration and adaptation to new tourism activities
including the Cercs Museum of Mining.
Visitors entering the Holy Roman mine gallery at Circs
Geological Situation
Fígols is located in the eastern Pyrenees, in the Pedraforca
thrust sheet of the Vallcebre anticline. Lignite is interspersed in the limestones and
marls of the Garumnià facies.
Geological Information
The area presents a diverse geological facies with outcrops of
sandstone, limestone and lutite marls of continental origin corresponding to
those of late Mesozoic lake sediments. The limestone strata has interesting
continental fossil fauna. Lignite has been intensively exploited in the region,
despite being a low quality coal.
Socio-Economic Characteristics
This is a very sensitive area in terms of the socio-economic
characteristics, since mining has been the basis of the economy for many years.
Although the mines are now closed, their cultural presence is still very strong.
Comparative Analysis
The Fígols mines are part of the same mining district as Fumanya,
and the coal levels correspond to the same facies.
Historic heritage
The mining town of Sant Corneli is one of the few settlements
in Catalonia to retain the original architectural structure developed from
mining activities. Sant Corneli still retains many original buildings and
structures, and it has been possible to maintain a minimum population and recent
tourist developments. Miners have conserved some elements that can be observed
in the mining museum which is located in the town.
Geological importance
The materials that emerge in this area are part of the Lower
Perdaforca thrust sheet structure known as the Syncline of Vallcebre with a dip in
the area of St. Cornelius of 30 º NW. The Garumnià Berguedà basin covers some
200 km² with a maximum depth of 850 metres. The sediments are around 70 million
years old, corresponding to continental river and lake deposits. Coal is found
in the Garumnià series above a white limestone base of between 5 and 10 metres
in thickness. Above this are 200 metres of marl and limestone with intercalated
carbon levels. Channeled sandstones and conglomerates outcrop with a depth of
about 300 and continue with the Vallcebre limestone with a maximum depth of 100
metres. A 150 metre section of lutites and red loams then follows before the top
of the series outcrops with about 100 metres of well-stratified limestone and
marls.
The geological significance lies mainly in the fields of mining
and sedimentology. The Garumnià lacustrine facies are an excellent example for
the understanding of the geological period between late Mesozoic and early
Cenozoic. This includes the development of large lake areas in the Pyrenees,
where abundant vegetation resulted in the formation of coal. This is one of the
best locations in Catalonia to understand the formation of coal, its lake source
and to recognise its characteristics and properties as a fuel. Moreover, an old
mine can be visited to help an understanding of the exploitation of traditional
resources. The subsurface geology identified in the mine can help in the
understanding of the distribution and direction of the strata that we see on the
surface.
The mine is very popular with the teaching community who take
advantage of the tours organised by the Mining Museum. It is also a regular
stopping place for university geology groups.
Historic significance
The exploitation of lignite began 150 years ago and from then
until the end of the twentieth century, the whole alt Berguedà - villages,
colonies and families - lived for mining and from mining. Major coal mining
operations began with Carbones de Berga SA. The most widespread system for
exploiting coal was through the use of galleries. From the middle of the
nineteenth century until 1965, work was characterised by its danger and by the
fact that it was basically manual. Maximum production was reached in the 1960s
but it was not until 1965 that mining operations were mechanised. Decline began
in the 1970s resulting in the closure of the Vallcebre and Fígols mines.
Several projects have been initiated to revive the area, the most important of
which is the Museum of Mines at Circs.
Protection and Preservation
The area is in very good state of conservation. All mining area
are being restored using public and private investment to create a Mountain Park
aimed at tourist and educational groups.
Negative impacts and threats
The entire area of St. Cornelius Fígols bears the scars of
mining but the impact in many areas has been minimized by restoration.
Currently, the area presents no threats, with low visitor numbers to the mines
and effective environmental and tourism management.
Circs Museum of Mines
The museum was inaugurated in 1998 and is linked to the National Technical
Museum of Catalonia. It consists of an exhibition on coal mining and the
associated mining colonies. A mine gallery (Holy Roman) can be visited on a
small mining train, which covers the different mining systems in chronological
order.
The permanent exhibition is divided into two areas: one about coal - the
characteristics of lignite, forms of extraction and exploitation, transport,
applications and uses - and another about daily life, focusing on social themes.
The mining colony was founded at the end of the nineteenth century to house
the miners and their families, using the industrial colony model already
established in Catalonia. Today it forms one of the best preserved mining
centres in Catalonia and in the whole of Spain.
Visitors can also see a miner's home, a colony flat as it was in the 1940s.
By 1950, as many as 3,000 people came to live in Saint Corneli, many of them
immigrants from Andalusia. Life in the mining colonies was hard because of the
isolation and the fact that their inhabitants were completely dependent on the
mine and the mining company.
