The Braçal mining complex includes the Braçal, Malhada and Coval da Mó mines and extends along the Mau River, on the eastern slope of the Serra do Braçal. This complex is the oldest Portuguese mining concession, registered under number 1, and allowed the exploration of one of the largest mining deposits in the Aveiro region. After the exploration by the Romans, in Malhada, they were inactive until 1836. From this date, the 1st Mina do Braçal concession, the first in the country, extended the exploration to Malhada, in 1850. After several concessions, the exploration ceased in December 1958. Lead (Pb) and silver (Ag) veins were explored, with lead being the main product extracted from this mining complex. Currently, it is possible to know the old foundry of the mining complex that existed here and various infrastructures used in the transformation of the ore, currently in a state of ruins. The Mau River, which crosses the Minas, is a tributary of Vouga and has a lush flora, where the forest abounds and the ferns and mosses paint the river bed in shades of green. Part of this river is channeled through man-made artificial stone and cement tunnels.
This geosite is an outcropping found in the slope of the road near the settlement of Chao de Espinho. It is a location which proves the even earlier state of the evolution of orthogonal fracturing of the Quartz Diorite Mass. The network of ...
In November 3rd, 2012 was inaugurated the House of Parideiras Stones - Interpretation Centre. This is a house that aims to contribute to the conservation, understanding and appreciation of this important geological heritage and to promote i ...
Compact Quartz vein, approximately 2m thick, set in a NW-SE direction, which stands out from the landscape due to its high resistance to erosion. This is an occurrence which is representative of multiple quartz veins which outcrop in the Se ...
This geosite comprises an area that presents diverse outcroppings of intensely folded Ante-Ordovician metasediments. These are mica schists that present abundant inter-layers of metagraywackes and veins of quartz which highlight the numerou ...
Since the beginning of the 20th century the "Mine Manifests" have declared numerous areas of metalliferrous interest in the parish of Regoufe. On January 9, 1915 the permit was issued for the exploitation of the "Regoufe Mine," or Poça da C ...
In Serra da Freita, near the village of Castanheira, you can rise to the Panoramic Floor of the Arouca Meteorological Radar (10th floor) and understand the operation of this technical infrastructure, at the service of the Portuguese Institu ...
A well-marked and easily recognisable land feature which pertains to the Serra da Freita landscape, which is similar to the cow´s rump. It is a lookout point of high geomorphological relevance with privileged views of the Moldes Valley, and ...
Panoramic view, of national importance, where the highest waterfall of Portugal can be seen, located at the contact between the Serra da Freita granite and the ante-Ordovician metasediments (schists and greywackes). As granite is more resis ...
Geosite located in the plateau of Freita, marked by two granite blocks, displaced from the residual body. The local name is due to the polygonal network of shallow fissures on the rocks´ surface which is similar to the crust of a traditiona ...
Currently abandoned, the Rio de Frades Tin and Tungsten Mines were exploited by the Companhia Mineira do Norte de Portugal (Northern Portugal Mining Company), of German ownership, which was at its height during the Second World War. Accordi ...
Near the town of Mizarela, following a NW-SE and sub-vertical direction, is a clear contact between the Ante-Ordovician metasediments and the granite from Serra da Freita. Here the metamorphic rocks present high concentrations of staurolite ...
The fossils collection of the Trilobites Museum, also known as the Geological Interpretation of Canelas Center (CIGC), is a geosite with international relevance. Open to the public since 1 of July, 2006, in the parish of Canelas, is located ...
The wolframium deposits integrate with a set of subvolcanic deposits of tungsten and tin which are distributed from Galiza to Castela (Spain) crossing the northern and central regions of Portugal and defining the so called "Tin-Wolframium I ...
In the Viveiros da Granja area stand out huge rounded boulders resulting from a fracturation pattern and from the water flow along these fractures of the granite massif of Arouca.The boulders that resisted the physical and chemical changes ...
