Post Conference Field Trip

July 11 to 14, 2025

Teresa Valente

cost: 750 €

Iberi­an Pyr­ite Belt: Braga → Riotinto mines → Braga

The post-con­fer­ence field trip will con­clude the IMWA 2025 exper­i­ence with an in-depth explor­a­tion of the Iberi­an Pyr­ite Belt, one of the most rel­ev­ant min­ing regions in Europe. With a his­tory of min­ing that dates back to pre-Roman times, this region is home to some of the old­est and largest mines on Earth. This excur­sion includes vis­its to Aljustrel, São Domin­gos, and Riotinto mines.

On the way back from the Riotinto mines to Braga, we stay overnight in the interi­or of Por­tugal to vis­it the Urgeir­iça urani­um mine, once one of Por­tugal’s biggest envir­on­ment­al prob­lems. Par­ti­cipants will emerge from the field trip with a com­pre­hens­ive under­stand­ing of the com­plex­it­ies involved in mine water man­age­ment and the innov­at­ive solu­tions being imple­men­ted to address these chal­lenges.

  • Wit­ness the strik­ing min­er­alo­gic­al and eco­lo­gic­al fea­tures shaped by cen­tur­ies of extreme acid mine drain­age while appre­ci­at­ing the envir­on­ment­al rehab­il­it­a­tion efforts.
  • Wit­ness one of the largest envir­on­ment­al mon­it­or­ing and rehab­il­it­a­tion pro­jects, which includes the treat­ment of efflu­ents and the recov­ery of the waste dumps.
  • Explore the min­ing land­scapes, vis­it his­tor­ic gal­ler­ies, and dis­cov­er museums that pre­serve the rich min­ing leg­acy.

The trip will be enriched with stops at emblem­at­ic sites of Por­tugal’s his­tory, cul­ture and tra­di­tion. High­lights include the small town of Óbidos on the way to Aljustrel and the town of Évora on the way back to Urgeir­iça.

Regis­tra­tion fee includes lunch, excur­sion fees, trans­port­a­tion and accom­mod­a­tion in hotels. Din­ners are not included.