Centro de interpretación Peña del Hierro

The Peña del Hierro Visitor Centre is in the north-eastern end of the anticline of Riotinto, 10 km from the town of Minas de Riotinto and 3 km from Nerva. This mine is smaller that those of Riotinto, but has high purity metals. Its name comes from the large ferruginous outcrop that crowns the open-pit mine.

Peña de Hierro, like all the mines in the surrounding area, is situated in a geological region called the Iberian Pyrite Belt, made up of materials that are 300 million years old, and it has a sedimentary volcanic origin. The history of the mine goes back to Roman times, but it was mainly productive between the mid-19th century and the third quarter of the 20th century.

Since late 2004 the Río Tinto Foundation, through the Riotinto Mining Museum, has been organising tours that show the most beautiful and outstanding places in the Riotinto Mining Region.

The Peña del Hierro Visitor Centre has videos and exhibitions, a reception area and toilets. The exhibition focuses both on the characteristics of the Protected Landscape of Río Tinto and on the mining tradition of the region. The tour may also include a visit to the Natural Monument of Montera de Gossan, a reddish rocky formation.