Patrimonio geológico y patrimonio minero, relaciones y ejemplos españoles.

Résumé

The relationship between the mining heritage and the geological heritage is as great as the history of mining andgeodiversity. Mining activity exploits geological resources, implying a clear and direct relationship between miningactivity and geology. However, this relationship is not that clear when talking about heritage, due to the conceptualdifferences between the two of them. Geological heritage is part of natural heritage, but mining heritage is a resultof human activity, so it is part of the historical and cultural heritage. Not all mineral deposits that are being orhave been exploited are strictly considered heritage sites, only those that have some conditions (such as its uniqueor exceptional quality). The same happens with current mining activity or their remains, they must comply withcertain conditions in order to be assessed and protected as heritage elements. Thus, the geological heritage of somemineral deposits must not be mistaken for its mineral heritage, or vice versa. There are certain places that havesignificant heritage elements of both types, strengthening and widening their potential interest, having a need fortheir conservation and having a possibility of stating their value. The Spanish territory has a long mining historyand extraordinary geodiversity. It shows a significant number of examples of sites that have this double conditionand can be considered as Points or Sites of geological and mining interest. In this publication, some of the more re-levant cases are shown, in which the geological nature and the human extractive activity are tied together in orderto create sets of high natural and cultural value, or in other words, high mining and geological heritage