As part of the construction of the large Tâmega Hydroelectric Complex, Iberdrola has also promoted a visit to the Tresminas Roman gold Mining Site, a project that is part of the compensation actions carried out by the company pursuant to what is established in the Environmental Impact Statement. 

With the investment of 1.84 million Euros in the Tresminas Mine Complex, Iberdrola is demonstrating its commitment to the economic, social, cultural and environmental development of the communities where it operates. The company is collaborating with the Vila Pouca de Aguiar Town Council and the North Portugal Regional Department of Culture in the historical, archaeological and heritage enhancement of the region. This investment started in 2016 and is expected to continue until 2023.

The company has allocated, between 2016 and the end of 2018, around 850,000 Euros which, throughout this year, will be invested as follows:

The funding of the technical equipment.
The continuation of the historical geological and fauna and flora studies in Tresminas.
The acquisition of equipment for visits to inverted cone pits and mine-shafts, and for their maintenance and/or clearance.
The construction of the support building and structures and equipment to support movement in the inverted cone pits and mine-shafts.

Tresminas, one of the largest aurifer explorations

The Tresminas Roman Mine Complex was, during the Roman Era, one of the main gold explorations in the primary deposits of the conventus bracaraugustanus and one of the most significant ones in the Northwest of the Peninsula: it is estimated that between the I and III centuries A.D. around 25 tonnes of pure gold were obtained from Tresminas, which involved the ejection of millions of tonnes of rock excavating open inverted cone pit mines.

Iberdrola is committed with this initiative to the preservation of local and national heritage in the region of Tresminas, as well as to make the archaeological and historical importance of this mine complex well known and to boost tourism in the area.

The investment made by the company allows a set of actions to be carried out that benefit the Tresminas Mine Complex, facilitating its future recognition as an Archaeological Park, which will safeguard the materials associated with Roman mining and the landscaping of the area.

Tresminas is part of the municipality of Vila Pouca de Aguiar’s strategic pillars in terms of cultural tourism.  The efforts made over the last few months, both at local and regional level, following the enhancement of the heritage and tourism value of Tresminas, have already resulted in an increase in the number of visitors to the region.

Alto Tâmega, candidate to be a world heritage site

In fact, these results have been supported by activities in cross-border partnership with Las Médulas, UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997 and one of the most important and well-known Roman mines, in the El Bierzo region in Spain. The candidature is made jointly, in a common cultural project, which aims to enhance the value of the Iberian Peninsula’s Roman mining legacy. In 2017, this cooperation protocol between the Municipality of Vila Pouca de Aguiar and the Las Médulas Foundation was supported by organisations such as the Direção Regional de Cultura do Norte and the Castilla y León regional government’s General Directorate of Cultural Heritage. This alliance aims to further strengthen the candidature of this area of Portugal as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.