Located in the clue de Verdaches, in the heart of the Haute-Provence Geopark, this mine is a reminder that the subsoil was once exploited in the region.
The clue de Verdaches was carved out by the Bès nearly 6 million years ago in Triassic (-235 MA) and Carboniferous (-300 MA) terrains, some of the oldest in the Haute Provence Geopark. Copper mining in the area began in the 16th c. with the arrival of German miners (considered experts at the time) and seems to have continued until the end of the 17th c. It was then abandoned. It was then abandoned.
The Pinées mine was discovered during archaeological surveys carried out in the 1990s.
It was dug into quartz sandstone following a small vein containing galena, azurite and malachite. The ruins seen here may have served as a shelter for the workers. Most of the remains of the mining workings are thought to have disappeared due to severe erosion in the clues.
