About the event

Lesley Dunlop
Oxfordshire Geology Trust, Berkshire Geoconservation Group, Northumbria University

Portugal, along with Spain, makes up the Iberian Massif. The bedrock of Portugal ranges from PreCambrian to recent with the oldest rocks occurring in the north and youngest to the south and west. Working from north to south there is a difference in the mineral deposits and the working of these which make it a fascinating study. Around Bragança in the north there are two circular outcrops which are part of a Palaeozoic ophiolite. Chromites have been mined here and there are hundreds of prospects and small podiform chromite mines. 

In the centre of Portugal there are granites associated with the Variscan orogeny, similar to those on SW England. Locally there are variations such as the lithium bearing pegmatites close to Covilha, tin-tungsten mineralisation at Panasqueira and quartz, feldspar pegmatites at Mangualde. Today lithium is of great interest. The Iberian Pyrite Zone crosses from Setubal in the west into Spain. In Portugal deposits have been worked since pre-Roman times. There is evidence of Roman iron working at Aljustrel. One of the largest mines in this area is still operational and is at Neves Corvo where six massive sulphide lenses have been discovered. 

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