MineGuessr – Minas de Alquife, Spain: Europe’s Largest Open-Pit Iron Ore Mine

MineGuessr Advent Calendar 2025 – Door 21

Minas de Alquife is one of the mines featured in our 2025 MineGuessr mining advent calendar. Each December day, we reveal a new mining satellite timelapse and invite you to guess the mine from satellite imagery of mines across the Nordics and Europe.

On this page, we provide a concise, professional overview of Minas de Alquife – its location, geology, operational history and role in the raw materials value chain. The satellite timelapse highlights how one of Europe’s classic iron ore districts went from full production to closure and then back into operation, supporting raw materials education around iron ore, mine reactivation and European steel supply.

Aerial view of the Minas de Alquife open-pit iron ore mine and red waste dumps in Granada, Spain

Overview & location

Minas de Alquife is a large open-pit iron ore mine in the Marquesado del Zenete area of Granada province, Andalusia, on the northern flank of Spain’s Sierra Nevada. The mine is located near the town of Alquife and the neighbouring municipalities of Lanteira, Aldeire and La Calahorra, roughly 80 km east of Granada and within rail distance of the port of Almería.

Mining at Alquife has a very long history, with iron ore extraction dating back to Roman times and likely earlier. In the 20th century it became one of Europe’s best-known open-pit iron ore operations, producing high-grade hematite ore from a series of large terraced pits.

Today, under the ownership of Minas de Alquife S.L.U., the project has been restarted as a modern operation often described as Europe’s largest open-pit iron ore mine. The business model is centred on supplying European steelmakers with iron ore from a relatively short logistics chain within the EU.

Where in the world is Minas de Alquife?

Country & region: Granada province, Andalusia, southern Spain.
Geographic setting: High plateau at the northern foot of the Sierra Nevada, in the Marquesado Mining District.
Logistics: Historically linked to the Port of Almería by dedicated rail; the restarted project again targets seaborne export to European steel mills.
Scale: Proven iron ore reserves on the order of 100+ Mt and a ramp-up plan towards ~4–4.5 Mt of ore per year.

Geology & deposit type

Alquife is a large stratabound iron oxide deposit hosted in the Nevado–Filábride complex of the Sierra Nevada.

Key geological characteristics:

Iron ore occurs as hematite–goethite bodies associated with Permo–Triassic and Triassic carbonates and marbles.
The mineralisation forms irregular lenses and layers (“cuerpos estratiformes”) with relatively sharp contacts to the country rocks.
Ore bodies can reach several metres to over 10 m in thickness and extend over large areas, making them amenable to large-scale open-pit mining.
The hematite here is known for its high iron content, which historically made the district highly competitive in European iron ore supply.

Within the MineGuessr portfolio, Minas de Alquife represents a classical iron oxide open pit in southern Europe, contrasting with the carbonate iron ores of Erzberg, the magnetite operations in the Nordics and the industrial mineral quarries on other days.

What the mining satellite timelapse shows

The mining satellite timelapse for Minas de Alquife (1984–2022) compresses four decades of change into a few seconds. Unlike many greenfield operations, Alquife’s story includes a long pause: a period of full production in the 1980s and 1990s, followed by closure and then a restart from 2020.

1980s–mid 1990s – high-tonnage open-pit production

During this phase, the mine was operated by Compañía Andaluza de Minas, producing around 3–3.5 Mt of iron ore per year from a series of large pits.
Ore was hauled to crushing and loading facilities and transported by rail to the Port of Almería, where a dedicated high-capacity shiploader handled exports to European steelmakers.

What you see from space:

Multiple large terraced open pits forming a broad red “scar” on the plateau south of Guadix.
Extensive waste dumps and stockpiles with characteristic reddish-brown colours.
A well-developed internal road network and plant area between the pits and the rail corridor.

Late 1990s–2000s – closure and standstill

After decades of operation, mining at Alquife ceased in the mid-1990s; the workforce was laid off and the mine infrastructure gradually fell into disuse.
Open pits partially flooded, waste dumps stabilised and the former mining village entered a period of decline.

In the timelapse:

The pit outlines remain almost unchanged from year to year.
Some water accumulation becomes visible in the deeper pits.
No new dumps, benches or large-scale earthworks appear – a visual contrast to the dynamic mines elsewhere in the calendar.

2010s – permitting, preparation and project restart

Following acquisition by Minas de Alquife S.L.U. in 2008, the new owners pursued environmental authorisations, exploitation concessions and technical studies to restart the mine.
Site works included drainage, geotechnical checks, refurbishment of access roads and preparation of a new processing flowsheet.

In satellite imagery:

Activity levels slowly increase – new clearings, access tracks and small infrastructure changes appear around the legacy pits.
However, until 2019 the large-scale footprint remains broadly similar to the closure phase.

2020s – modern open-pit restart

On 1 September 2020, iron ore production formally resumed, initially focusing on one of the smaller “cortas” (open cuts) such as Corta 6 before ramping up.
The restarted operation targets up to 4–4.5 Mt of ore per year, drawing on proven reserves of roughly 110 Mt of iron ore.
The mine operates under updated environmental and social standards, with monitoring, dust-control and rehabilitation obligations embedded in its permits.

On the latest frames:

You can see renewed movement along pit walls and benches, reflecting new pushbacks and active faces.
Fresh stockpiles and loading areas appear near the plant site.
The overall image is of a long-dormant district returning to life as a modern iron ore supplier.

Mining method & processing – how the ore moves

Minas de Alquife is a large-scale open-pit truck–shovel operation mining iron oxides:

Drilling & blasting: Benches are drilled and blasted to fragment hematite–goethite ore and waste rock.
Loading & hauling: Hydraulic excavators and wheel loaders load haul trucks, which transport ore to crushers and waste to dumps.
Processing: Crushing, screening and beneficiation produce iron ore fines and lump products that meet steel industry specifications.
Logistics: Ore is transported to port facilities for shipment to European steel mills, leveraging relatively short sea routes within the Mediterranean and Atlantic basins.

Role in the raw materials value chain & energy transition

Alquife plays a renewed role in Europe’s raw materials value chain for steel:

It provides a domestic EU source of iron ore, reducing dependence on long-haul imports from other continents.
Shorter transport distances and modern environmental management support more energy- and carbon-efficient supply paths to European steelmakers.
The project demonstrates how brownfield mining districts can be revitalised under current environmental and social expectations, instead of opening entirely new greenfield pits.

From an energy transition perspective, iron ore is fundamental: every tonne of low-carbon steel used in wind turbines, transmission lines, rail networks or electric vehicles starts with iron-bearing feed. How and where that ore is produced – and how far it has to travel – is increasingly part of the discussion about responsible steel supply.

What to look for in the MineGuessr timelapse

As a MineGuessr player, could you spot the following in the Minas de Alquife timelapse?

The broad, red-toned terraced pits that make the mine stand out from the surrounding landscape.
The contrast between a dynamic production phase in the 1980s–1990s and the “frozen” closure period that follows.
The gradual return of activity in the late 2010s as reactivation works start.
The post-2020 restart, with new stockpiles, bench changes and infrastructure that signal a modern operation built on an old mining district.

MineGuessr perspective – why this mine was included

We selected Minas de Alquife for the MineGuessr mining advent calendar because it:

Is widely recognised as Europe’s largest open-pit iron ore mine, giving a strong visual signature in satellite imagery.
Shows a distinctive life-of-mine story – full production, closure, long standstill and then a restart under new ownership and ESG expectations.
Offers a case study in iron ore supply, brownfield reactivation and regional development in southern Europe.

In our GeoGuessr-style mine guessing game, Alquife helps spark conversations about iron ore geology, mine closure vs. re-opening strategies, and Europe’s efforts to secure more resilient steel supply chains.

Throughout December, keep opening a new door every day and explore all 24 mines featured this year on the main MineGuessr mining advent calendar page.

Day 1 - Aitik (Sweden, copper-gold open pit)
A large, low-grade copper operation south of Gällivare
👉 Open Door 1 - Aitik
Day 2 - Björkdal (Sweden, gold)
Gold mine near Skellefteå, combining open-pit and underground mining.
👉 Open Door 2 - Björkdal
Day 3 - Kemi (Finland, chrome)
Chrome mine in northern Finland, Europe’s only chromite operation.
👉 Open Door 3 - Kemi
Day 4 - Ørtfjell (Norway, iron ore)
Iron ore mine in Norway’s Dunderland Valley, evolving from large open pits to underground mining.
👉 Open Door 4 - Ørtfjell
Day 5 - Trimouns (France, talc)
World’s largest working talc quarry high in the French Pyrenees above Luzenac.
👉 Open Door 5 - Trimouns
Day 6 - Skouries (Greece, copper-gold porphyry)
High-grade copper–gold porphyry project in the forests of Halkidiki, still under construction.
👉 Open Door 6 - Skouries
Day 7 - Las Cruces (Spain, copper)
High-grade hydromet copper mine in the Iberian Pyrite Belt north-west of Seville.
👉 Open Door 7 - Las Cruces
Day 8 - Assarel–Medet (Bulgaria, copper)
Twin porphyry copper open pits in the Panagyurishte district, from Europe’s former largest open-pit copper mine at Medet to today’s modern Assarel operation.
👉 Open Door 8 - Assarel–Medet
Day 9 - Glomel (France, andalusite)
World-class andalusite open-pit quarry in Brittany’s Montagnes Noires, supplying refractory minerals for Europe’s steel, foundry, cement and glass industries.
👉 Open Door 9 - Glomel
Day 10 - Parnassos–Ghiona (Greece, bauxite)
Karst-type bauxite mines in the Parnassos–Ghiona mountains, a historic alumina feedstock district supplying Greece’s aluminium industry.
👉 Open Door 10 - Parnassos–Ghiona
Day 11 - Kittilä (Finland, gold)
Europe’s largest primary gold mine at the Suurikuusikko orogenic gold deposit north of the Arctic Circle.
👉 Open Door 11 - Kittilä
Day 12 - Oltenia Energy Complex (Romania, lignite)
Cluster of large open-pit lignite mines and mine-mouth power plants in Gorj County, now at the centre of Romania’s coal phase-out and just transition plans.
👉 Open Door 12 - Oltenia Energy Complex
Day 13 - Cornwall china clay (UK)
Historic Imerys china clay pits near St Austell, where bright white kaolin benches and tips reshape “Clay Country” over decades of mining and restoration.
👉 Open Door 13 - Cornwall china clay
Day 14 - Aggeria–Agia Irini (Greece, bentonite)
Overlapping bentonite open pits on the volcanic island of Milos, anchoring one of Europe’s key industrial minerals districts.
👉 Open Door 14 - Aggeria–Agia Irini
Day 15 - Skouriotissa (Cyprus, copper & hydromet)
Ancient copper mining district in the Troodos ophiolite, now a hydrometallurgical hub processing copper, gold and battery-metal feed.
👉 Open Door 15 - Skouriotissa
Day 16 - Tunstead (UK, limestone & cement)
The UK’s largest limestone quarry near Buxton, feeding an integrated lime and cement works with long-term restoration and biodiversity plans.
👉 Open Door 16 - Tunstead
Day 17 - Narva (Estonia, oil shale)
Large open-pit oil shale mine in Ida-Viru County, supplying the Narva power plants and reshaping the landscape with strip mining and reclamation.
👉 Open Door 17 - Narva
Day 18 - Sydvaranger (Norway, iron ore)
Arctic banded iron formation at Bjørnevatn near Kirkenes, evolving toward DR-grade magnetite for Europe’s green steel transition.
👉 Open Door 18 - Sydvaranger
Day 19 - Kevitsa (Finland, nickel–copper–PGE)
Multimetal open-pit mine in Finnish Lapland, combining Ni–Cu–PGE production with trolley-assisted haulage for lower-emission mining.
👉 Open Door 19 - Kevitsa
Day 20 - Styrian Erzberg (Austria, iron ore)
Terraced “pyramid” open-pit iron ore mine at Eisenerz, turning 12 Mt of rock into ~3 Mt of ore each year for Austria’s steel industry.
👉 Open Door 20 - Styrian Erzberg
Day 22 - Siilinjärvi (Finland, phosphate)
EU’s only operating phosphate mine in central Finland, mining an Archean carbonatite for fertiliser-grade apatite and creating distinctive pale tailings and phosphogypsum stacks.
👉 Open Door 22 - Siilinjärvi
Day 23 - Tellnes (Norway, ilmenite/titanium)
World-class ilmenite open pit in the Rogaland Anorthosite Province, supplying TiO₂ pigment feedstock from one of Europe’s largest titanium deposits.
👉 Open Door 23 - Tellnes
Day 24 - Elatsite (Bulgaria, copper–gold porphyry)
High-altitude porphyry copper–gold open pit in Bulgaria’s Srednogorie zone, with ore conveyed under the Balkan Mountains to a separate flotation–tailings complex.
👉 Open Door 24 - Elatsite

About Gosselin Mining

At Gosselin Mining, we regularly work with bulk open-pit operations and long-lived mine sites like Minas de Alquife: iron ore and other bulk commodities, complex life-of-mine planning, and projects where reactivation, ESG performance and regional value creation all matter.

Stress-test your life-of-mine plan for an iron ore or bulk commodity project
Evaluate options for open-pit design, haulage optimisation and low-carbon pathways
Benchmark your ESG and land-use profile against comparable European mines

…you’re very welcome to book a meeting with us.