Claudia Chiappino presenta i lavori di ricerca
The Cozzo Disi mine (Casteltermini, Sicily, Italy) a multi-disciplinary approach to record, study, preserve and develop the mining heritage in Sicily. Badino Giovanni, Chiappino Claudia, D’Aquila Antonio, Fiorenza Fiorenzo, Spitaleri Giuseppe, Vattano Marco.
The Cozzo Disi Mine was until 1964 one of the main Sulphur extractive plants in Italy and, after the closing of Perticara and Cabernardi mines in Marche Region (now in Emilia Romagna territory), it became absolutely the biggest.
Mining definitively closed in 1988, as consequence of the Regional Law n. 34, which established the closure of all the Sulphur Mines in Sicily.
While the other mines were practically completely abandoned, Cozzo Disi was kept in maintenance since 1992, and underground water was educed.
In November 1990 the Sicilian Mining Administration – which had the property of the whole sulphur mining district – delivered the Mine to the Region Sicily; this way, there was no more maintenance and pumping. So the mine was abandoned to plunder, vandalism and flloding.
A Regional Law in 1991 established four regional mining museums based, respectively, in the mines of Gessolungo and La Grasta in Caltanissetta, in Trabia Tallarita of Riesi and Sommatino and in Ciavolotta mine of Favara; Cozzo Disi Mine-Museum was instituted at the same time.
The Sicilian Region, therefore, transposed the mining heritage as important resource for the territory management.
Unfortunately, until 1996, nothing was done; then a regional law allocated a billion of old “Lire” for the “safeguard of the underground infrastructures of Cozzo Disi Mine-Museum “.
This financing allowed the restoration of the “floatation” tunnel, and of another gallery (Canalotto) located 15 metres below, connected to the first one with a descendery; an undergound circular track should be already accessible to the public, which demand insistently to visit the site.
In 2001 another billion was financed to restore plants and buildings, but it was not enough to save this big mine after a so long time of neglect; Cozzo Disi, if opportunely exploited, shold represent a strong turistic call, in reference to other national and international successful mining museums.
Cozzo Disi underground is well preserved until 8th level, at a 230 m depth; it contains geologic, mineralogic and naturalistic peculiarities, so uncommon to be sometimes unique: this is the case of the “grandi garbere” at 3th level, majestic karst cavities, which sides are covered by immense gypsum cristals, with extraordinary purity and limpidity.
A witness, the mine topographer in the 50’s, reports in a written remark about cristals with metric dimensions. At 12th level, the sulphur deposit is almost untouched.
Walking in these fabulous galleries excavated in the gypsum/sulphur ore, and to see glittering cristals in the artificial lights, is particularly evocative.
To show to visitors these nature wonders is necessary to restore some old tunnels and realize new lifts; the main, urgent problemi is now pumping waters to save the mine, after 10 years of desertion.
In 2013 a CTS (Technical-Scientific Council) was established, to create a new Management-Plan to support Casteltermini Municipality in the future development projects.
A mining and speleological task-force is now exploring underground spaces, with two targets:
a) inspecting mining works, to realize the technical measures necessary to visit the mine in good-safety conditions;
b) to achieve the rooms/caves of “grandi garbere”, in order to document a worldwide, extraordinary discovery that should be relevant for the future of culture and economy of this territory.
In the past, in the working period, Cozzo Disi was characterized by huge safety problems: hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide and explosive athmospheres caused a lot of deadly accidents.
So, the team involved in actual and future recoinnassance has to move with calm and caution, using adequate equipment and – if necessary – waiting for acceptable environmental conditions created by artificial tools (ventilation, pumping, etc.).