The flooded pit at Mina de São Domingos over 40 years after the workings here were abandoned, as seen on 25/10/2007.
Photo Tony Bowles

Mason & Barry Ltd were the English registered company that took over the mining concession for São Domingos Mines in 1859. Prior to this the deposits of gold, silver & copper here had been exploited since Roman times but by improving the transport infrastructure by means of a 3ft 6in gauge railway connecting the mines to staithes constructed on the Rio Guadiana some 17km away to the south, extraction rates were vastly increased. Some 25 million tons of copper, pyrites, & manganese were mined before the accessible deposits were exhausted & operations ceased in the mid 1960s. The mines here were at the western end of the Iberian Pyrites Belt that extended back into the Huelva province of Spain where they were exploited on the grand scale by Cala Mines, Rio Tinto Mines & the Tharsis Sulphur & Copper Company amongst others.
A comprehensive history of the mines here (in Portuguese but with report extracts in English) with illustrations is available on the mundosdotrabalho site

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