Preliminary Assessment of the Geological and Mining Heritage of the Golden Quadrilateral (Metaliferi Mountains, Romania) as a Potential Geotourism Destination

The Metaliferi Mountains (Western Romania) are known worldwide as the richest gold region in Romania and hosts for numerous porphyry and epithermal deposits. In these mountains, mining for gold dates back to Roman and even pre-Roman times. The Golden Quadrilateral constitutes a remarkable example of an area having a significant geological and mining heritage. The main purposes of this work are to emphasize this heritage, to present, for the first time, an assessment of the geological and mining heritage of the Golden Quadrilateral as a possible geotourism destination, and to point out the important role that geotourism could have in the sustainable development of local communities. To achieve our goals, the features of thirteen sites are presented, and two geotourism itineraries are proposed. A quantitative assessment of the geosites’ capacity to support scientific, educational, and geotourism/recreational uses indicates that the Golden Quadrilateral presents a high potential not only for scientific studies but, also, for enhancement of the public understanding of science; geotourism could be part of the development strategy of rural areas. The two museums (Gold Museum and Gold Mining Museum) can have an important contribution both to the geo-education of visitors and in promoting the sustainable development of the region.

Geodiversity and Mining Towards the Development of Geotourism: A Global Perspective

Geodiversity and geological heritage are considered to be parallel and closely related concepts of biodiversity and biological heritage. Biodiversity is based and exists on the geodiversity of a territory. In the same way, mining activity and mining heritage are distinguished as contributing to social and economic development. The mining heritage is linked to the geological heritage and has become increasingly important for its social value and relationship with tourist activities. This study aims to analyze these fields' intellectual structure through bibliometrics as a current and innovative methodology that allows a full understanding of their structure and the relationships between these fields of cultural heritage, geodiversity, mining and geotourism. The following methodology considered: i) Search for classified information with scientific rigour in an indexed database, using search descriptors that cover the objective set, ii) analysis of scientific articles through graphical and statistical output schemes, and iii) discussion of the contributions, methodologies used, and trends on the subject. 709 documents of 29 years (1990-2019) from the Scopus database were analyzed. The results show the main themes, countries and influential institutions in cultural heritage, geodiversity, mining and tourism, which address six major research topics ranging from sustainable mining to geodiversity. Extensive information and understanding are provided that other research has partially addressed, allowing current and potential research areas to be identified.

New Marine Geoheritage from the Russian Altai

Marine geoheritage comprises unique geological features of modern and ancient seas and oceans. The Russian Altai (southern Siberia) is a vast and geologically rich area, which was covered by a marginal sea of the Panthalassa Ocean in the Devonian. New geosites representing shallow- and deep-marine depositional environments and palaeoecosystems of submarine volcano slopes are proposed, namely, Melnichnye Sopki and Zavodskie Sopki. They are located near the town of Zmeinogorsk (Altai Region of the Russian Federation). These pieces of marine geoheritage are valuable on an international scale. Special geoconservation procedures are recommended to manage the proposed geosites efficiently. They can be included in a geopark, which is reasonable to create due to the concentration of geological and mining heritage in the study area.

The belief in mining: How imageries of other mines may brighten Arctic minescapes

The article discusses how promising outlooks and favourable memories of past and distant mining ventures are employed in the view of a mine in spe. The study utilises interview quotes and written narratives pertaining to a case of mine development in Swedish Pajala and neighbouring Finnish Kolari (the Northland project 2004–2014), located above the Arctic Circle, for explicating this. Its theoretical framework includes the concept of minescape and the ideas of past presences and anticipated futures, which support capturing (the temporality of) the sociocultural and discursive dimensions of mining alongside with its physicality. Previous and distant experiences with mines appeared readily abstracted and brought into the current debate, forgetting about contexts, that is, about any historical or geographical contingencies. This kind of temporal and spatial referencing is seen to represent an imaginative practice which, as it is argued, gains an enhanced role in tandem with the increasing market dependency and volatility of the extractive business. By attending to the meaning-making based on remembering, and forgetting, in the context of experiences made with mining in the past or elsewhere, the article contributes to our understanding of the present-day role of mining heritage.

Mining site living with communities: geological and cultural landscapes for future industrial heritage tourist attraction (case from the Northern Thailand)

This article proposed the potentiality of a mine site as a significant geological resource and its industrial elements and associated landscapes and values, to become a mining heritage tourist attraction. The mine site as the case study is located in northern part of Thailand. Initially, the study utilized documentary research, followed by field surveys for physical records, and it was supplemented by in-depth interviews with key informants working in the related divisions of the studied mine’s organization. A focus group discussion was organized with 20 local participants living in proximity to the mine site. The findings revealed the potential of mining heritage tourism existed, and conveyed that the mine could step forwards developing itself as a mining heritage tourism site, with different features covering an energy park and outdoor museum of machinery, a bike park, and a cultural space holding culture and recreational events; whose narratives should be interpreted in align of the mine’s industrial and associated cultural landscapes. Limitations for future development were also addressed.