The mercury that refined the silver of the Americas
The largest mercury deposit on Earth, in the Sierra Morena in Ciudad Real, worked since Roman times and taken by the Christians in 1151, and given to the Knights of Calatrava. The name is the Arabic al-ma’din, the mine. About 250,000 tonnes of mercury have been produced here, a third of all the mercury ever used, and for centuries it went to the Americas to refine silver, which ties this Spanish hill directly to Potosí and Zacatecas. Because mercury poisons the people who handle it, the mine ran on convict labour, slaves and prisoners of war for much of its history. It stopped working in 2002 under the European mercury ban. It is a World Heritage Site now, with a mining park where you go into the Roman-era workings.
Castile-La Mancha, Spain
See it on the map
Other places on the map within a couple of hours of here.
