Celebrating Mining Heritage
for Sunstainable Future
The MINES.B Federation was established, as a project conceived by Giampiero Pinna, on 4 December 2020.
On this symbolic date – the feast day of Saint Barbara, patron saint of miners – the European Mining Routes of Santa Barbara Federation (MINES.B) was officially founded in Iglesias, Sardinia. It is an international network bringing together European and extra-European territories united by a significant mining and cultural heritage.
The Federation was created with the aim of protecting, enhancing, and transmitting both the tangible and intangible mining heritage, recognizing it as an essential component of Europe’s shared historical roots and collective identity. Mines, mining settlements, archives, museums, industrial landscapes, historic paths, and traditions connected to the cult of Saint Barbara represent a common legacy that has profoundly influenced Europe’s economic, social, and cultural development.
MINES.B brings together partners from several countries, each committed to the management, preservation, and promotion of mining routes and sites within their respective territories, within a structured framework of international cooperation.
The Federation promotes a model of slow and sustainable cultural tourism, based on soft mobility – walking, cycling, and horseback travel – and focused on the creation of an integrated network of routes connecting major historic mining sites. This approach combines heritage protection, territorial regeneration, and sustainable socio-economic development.
The Federation’s mission goes beyond preserving historical memory; it seeks to transform mining heritage into a strategic resource for the future, through:
- the promotion of transnational cooperation among mining regions;
- the regeneration of post-industrial territories;
- the creation of new cultural and economic opportunities;
- the active involvement of younger generations;
- the strengthening of a European identity founded on shared values of solidarity, memory, and sustainable development.
Today, MINES.B stands as an international cultural infrastructure capable of connecting memory and innovation, local identities and a European vision, industrial past and sustainable development perspectives. The Federation represents a community of territories which, starting from their mining roots, are building a shared path oriented toward cooperation, cultural enhancement, and collective growth.
Presidency Office
President
Mauro Usai
Fondazione Cammino Minerario di Santa Barbara
First Vice President
María Ángeles Tomás Obón
Comarca Andorra Sierra de Arcos
Second Vice President
Tomaž Bizjak
Idrija Mercury Heritage Management Centre
Project Coordinator and Secretary
Margherita Concu
Fondazione Cammino Minerario di Santa Barbara
Treasurer
Andrea Tarozzi
Fondazione Cammino Minerario di Santa Barbara
Statute
Download the statute of the Mines.B Federation
Portfolio
Download the association’s presentation portfolio in your preferred language.
