Erzberg, the "Ore Mountain, Styria Austria
The main feature of interest in Eisernerz is the Erzberg ("Ore Mountain", 1,466m/4,810ft), the largest deposit of spathic iron in Europe. There are step-like opencast workings. The Romans are thought to have mined here; in any case, it is certain that the mines were worked in the 12th century. The present annual output is about million tons of spathic ore (siderite) with a 33% iron content. Today the ore is no longer smelted in Eisernerz and Vordernberg but is taken to modern blast furnaces in Donauwitz and Linz. At the turn of the past century the Erzberg (Ore Mountain) furnished such rich ore that it was quarried in the open air like stone, in the summer months. There is documentary evidence of the mines having been worked as far back as the 12th century. They afforded employment to two or three thousand hands in summer and about half as many in winter, and yielded some 800,000 tons of iron per annum.
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Photo credit: © Manfred Glueck / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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