A talk by Peter Kingdom Booker

The mine at Saõ Domingos near Mértola is of great interest to British people in particular. For over one hundred years this remote spot in the Alentejo was the home of a British community in charge of the exploitation of a copper and sulphur mine. The story of the mine goes back to remote antiquity, since it was worked during Roman times, and possibly even before that. Rediscovered in the 1850s, the mine was leased to a British company who ensured that it became one of the most successful copper mines of that age. Sadly all mines work themselves towards exhaustion, and this successful business came to an end in the 1960s. Much of the mess that it made remains, as do the miners ́ houses, built to the same kind of plan as those in Britain; and the old offices, together with a tennis court and man-made lakes; and of course the officials ́ graveyard. Peter Booker tells the story of the British presence and of the remarkable effect of their mine on this remote corner of the Alentejo.