Minerals in Elba

"It is said in Etruria that there is an island called Aethalia whose mines, at first, provided copper from which all tools were made and then the mine ceased to provide. After a long period of time in the same mine iron appeared, which, to this day is used by the Etruscans who inhabit the village off Populonia".

De mirabilibus Auscultationibus.

Historical notes attributed

to Pseudo Aristotele; III-II century B.C.

Almost certainly the reason for the island's recent popularity with  tourists is to be found in its wonderfully transparent seas and verdant mediterranean maquis, typical of the island. However, to find Elba's most precious treasures you have to look underground. For over 4,000 years, generations of miners have searched for this treasure, mining at first copper and then iron. In fact the Greek's gave the island one of its first names Aethalia - spark. They chose this name after noting tongues of fire leaping out of the numerous smelting furnaces as they sailed the upper Tyrrhenian seas during voyages between their colonies in the south of

Italy and Marseilles. The west was not yet aware of the power of Rome, yet throughout the mediterranean it was already known that between Corsica and

Etruria there lay an island amazingly rich in iron. In fact Elba was largely responsable for the fortune of the Etruscans, probably the most refined of the italian

civilizations. The island appeared to be so rich in minerals that legend had it that its mines held inexhaustible supplies of iron. For centuries life on the island was intrinsically linked to the excellent quality and sheer quantity of hematite available, then finally, in October of 1981 the last iron mine on the island was closed.