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Washery
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Let me introduce this precious jewel.
It is a washery built in the 20s in the mining region of Gorno/Oneta, in the Alps. Today the mining activity is completely disappeared, but it began during the Neolithic age! Main extracted minerals were Lead and Zinc, but Copper too. There are no remaining shafts, because most of the mines were made of horizontal galleries, some of them still accessibile as museums.
Modern history of this area was signed by the interestingness of two foreign companies: "The English Crown Spelter" (1886) and the belgian "Vieille Montagne" (1922). From 1925 everything was owned by the Italian state mining company, A.M.M.I., which provided in 1927 to built this new big washery. It was closed in 1982, an year that signed the end of mining history in this region.
The whasery used the flotation process, and it is one of the best structures that I know, not only for architecture, but because inside it is completely intact! This picture shows partially the flotation cells room, sadly occupied by the collapsed roof. Every room is fulfilled with big machineries, everyone standing still.
It needs a mention the presence of an external inclined plane, to move things from the top of the washery to the bottom. On the side of the complex there are still two railway tracks that lead to one of the galleries, with some forgotten mine trucks.
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