Mining History of the Island of Milos:Mining History of the Island of Milos 9/25/08 4:33 PM Page 1

Mining History of the Island of Milos:Mining History of the island of Milos 9/25/08 4:33 PM Page 1

Silica Quartz

The principal volcanoes of Greece -those of presence felt on earth: Pleiopithecus, Dryopithe- Porous stone: Used in what were then con- It is well known that the Byzantine administra- Aegina, Methana, Milos, Kimolos, Polyaigos, cus, Oreopithecus, Australopithecus. They all sidered large buildings and public edifices. tion failed to realize the importance of rational ex- Folegandros, Thera, Nisyros and Kos- formed a struggled to survive, and it is truly amazing that A panoramic view of the Voudia bay first installations of Silver & Baryte Ores Mining Co. S.A (today S&B Industrial Minerals S.A.) Trachyte: Large quantities of this mineral ploitation of the abundant and varied mineral 220 km long volcanic belt extending along the bor- they succeeded in an extremely unfavourable and were quarried in Milos. It was used to make mill- wealth in the Empire as a means of enhancing its ders of a submerged land mass and became hostile environment, characterised by climatic stones used in the grinding of cereals or harder power. Its interest was limited mainly to gold, silver “laboratories” of valuable minerals, which man has changes hardly bearable to living organisms, and Due to its volcanic origin, the subsoil of Mi- by the use of flint and obsidian. Thus, the de- grew into important mining centres, while Milos materials. It was possibly exported to Laurion to and precious stones. This tragic mistake in combi- used ever since prehistoric times. cataclysmic tectonic events. los contained considerable quantities of obsidi- mand for Melian obsidian led part of the popula- had developed mining and trade of a variety of be used in ore crushing. nation with its indifference to the development of Perlite Barite All these cosmogenic events, which we have at- During the unceasing succession of centuries, an, a smooth and hard, grey-to-black rock, tion to work in quarrying and processing the minerals for special uses, which will be referred Kaolin: Used by painters to produce white all sectors of the economy, eventually led to chaos tempted to describe in an extremely abbreviated they evolved morphologically and mentally. Thus, which lent itself to making tools and weapons. rock and in the organisation of its trade, which to in what follows. paint. Also used in pottery. and to its pitiful end in 1453 A.D. form, resulted in shaping the geographic and tec- some 500,000 years ago, the first man to stand up This obsidian was of extraordinary quality and was undertaken principally by the second town There is no doubt that Laurion is the lead- Pumice: Used in polishing mosaics, skins, etc. The mistake was repeated by the Ottoman tonic features of the land of Greece, consisting of right (homo erectus) appeared, followed, about Milos was the only source of supply. Small of Phylakopi, built around 2000 B.C. It can be ing site of ancient Greek mining activity. When Alunite (alum): Used in the preparation of med- Empire and led it to the same end as Byzantine six main and several secondary geotectonic zones, 100,000 years ago, by the Neanderthal man, and fi- quantities of obsidian, most probably coming said, therefore, that obsidian played an important silver production started there is unknown, icines as an active material or an ingredient of drugs. era. During the period of Turkish rule, only a few which contain a great variety of igneous, sedimentary nally, 35,000 years ago, by homo sapiens, intelli- from Milos, recently found in the Greek main- part in the economic growth of the island during possibly in 1500 B.C. or even earlier. Xenophon In addition, some quartz sands and various small mines operated in Greece: Thassos, Euboea, and metamorphic rocks including an equally wide gent contemporary man. land were examined by geochronology meth- the above-mentioned periods. wrote in 355 B.C: “It is clear that the activity is composite siliceous minerals were undoubtedly Sifnos and Thrace, and even these operated at variety of ores and minerals. Primitive man, recognising the useful proper- ods and part were dated to the 11th millenium very ancient but when it started, no one can used for some applications. rudimentary level. The only efficient and productive There is no doubt that there exists a causal re- ties of hard stones, used them to make his first B.C., namely to the upper Paleolithic, and part The everlasting importance attempt to say”. Even in the ensuing centuries of decline in the mines were in Chalkidiki, the famous “mademo- lationship between the genesis of minerals and cer- tools and weapons, and these remained the same to 7250 B.C., the Mesolithic period. of the Greek mineral wealth The fact is that in ancient Greek times, from Aegean islands, during the Roman and the early choria” (metal villages). tain geologic activities, such as magmatic activity, for a very long period of time. The Paleolithic era is These findings indirectly point, not only to the the 8th down to the 1st century B.C., 3,500 Byzantine periods, quarrying continued in Milos. In Milos, the inhabitants avoided intensive Sulphur Gypsum sedimentation, weathering and dynamic metamor- considered to occur almost contemporaneously existence of the most ancient known navigation in f we attempt a more general review of min- tons of silver and 1,400,000 tons of lead were For reasons which are beyond the scope of this mining, otherwise the Turkish rulers would only phism of rocks. These activities have played a de- with the appearance of homo erectus and it lasts to the world, but also to the presence of human Ieral exploitation in Greece during the 3rd produced in Laurion. It is well known that Lauri- presentation, the Romans prohibited the operation increase their taxation. It should not be over- termining role in the formation of Greece during the about 8000 B.C., i.e. for 500,000 years at least. In beings on Milos as early as the late old stone age, and 2nd millenia B.C., we must note that on silver played a significant role in the history of of all Greek mines with only some limited-time excep- looked that the inhabitants of the Cycladic island various geologic periods. The result of these com- the ensuing middle and then the Neolithic, which that is earlier than any of other Cycladic islands. there was no noteworthy mining activity in this the ancient city-state of Athens. That role was tions. Quarries were not included in the ban. Quarry- lived for a considerable part of the Turkish rule plex processes are a variety of deposits, as already lasted at least, as far as Greek pre-history is con- However that may be, it is certain that by Ne- early period. There were however, fairly large immeasurably important and decisive at certain ing products and minerals of use to building, archi- under a regime of triple domination: Turks, mentioned, some of which occur in considerable cerned, for more than 5,000 years or from 8000 to olithic, when commerce had begun to flourish in quantities of native and alluvial gold in Northern historical moments not only for Athens but for tecture, sculpture, medicine and other arts and sci- Latins and pirates. Indeed after the unprece- quantities compared with the size of the country. 2800 or 2700 B.C., tools are perfected and some the Aegean, Milos exported obsidian to Crete Greece (Macedonia, Thrace, Thassos), the ex- Greece in its entirety. Increased silver production ences were abundant in Greece and of incompara- dented assaults of Barbarossa in the 16th centu- It was only natural that this great variety of use- are polished for use, among other things, in the and to other Aegean islands, to mainland Greece ploitation of which is associated with the first three years prior to the sea-battle of Salamis en- ble quality. So, thanks to its mineral products, which ry, few islands, including Milos, remained inhab- ful rocks, ores and minerals should give rise to a processing of wood. At the end of the Neolithic, and to Asia Minor. A significant piece of informa- mines in Greek territory. The sources of metals abled the Athenians to defeat the Persians. Irre- were unique and highly prized throughout the Ro- ited. Nevertheless, Milos with its spacious port, significant mining history in Greece, which goes man stands at the dawn of a new era, known for tion is that stonework containing large quantities that were used subsequently, in the period be- spective of that, Laurion developed an ad- man empire, Milos experienced considerable eco- continued to export sulphur, alum and salt from back to remotest times and whose beginning are the introduction and then general utilization of of obsidian from Milos was discovered in a very tween 1125 and 800 B.C. is unknown. One mirable mining and metallurgical technique over nomic prosperity under the Roman rule. Production its famous salt pans, alongside a number of agri- lost in the haze of legend. metals: the Bronze Age. ancient pre-ceramic settlement at Knossos dat- must bear in mind that there are no ancient writ- the centuries. of trachyte, sulphur, alunite, and pumice, used for cultural products. The Melians also made hand- Bentonite Skulls and other finds from beings who lived in ing from the 7th millenium B.C. ings referring specifically to minerals and mines, polishing the famous Roman mosaics, continued. mills which they exported to Contstantinople, Manganese Ore The evolution of mankind - the Paleolithic have been discovered in many parts Later, beginning in the old palace period with the exception of “onStones” by Theophras- The minerals of Milos Alunite was a product in short supply as it was Egypt, the Peloponnese, Zante, Cephallonia and The first men on Cyclades of the world: In Transvaal, Tanzania, Zambia, China, (down to 1400 B.C.), a trading station for obsidi- tus who was born in Eressos, Lesbos in the year considered the best in the empire. Sulphur arrived Ancona. islands Algeria, Belgium, France, Italy, Russia, Greece, etc. an operated in the town of Phylakopi, which 372 B.C., though occasional or fragmentary ref- he subsoil of Milos did not contain suf- in Roman ports on board special vessels, while ar- Between 1600 and 1700 A.D. the island had This is not of particular consequence: what is signif- flourished throughout the 2nd millenium B.C. All erences to mining, metal processing and metal- T ficient quantities of minerals from meniac bole, another much sought-after Melian brisk commercial activity, possibly due to the nquestionably, man or even the anthro- icant is the history and the culture of the various this leads to the conclusion that unlike the other lurgical activity occur in several ancient writers, which metals could be extracted. mineral, a coagulate of silica manganese hydroxides buying and selling of the pirates’ loot. Upoids preceding man have been insepa- groups who lived in specific geographical areas. Cycladic islands, the inhabitants of Milos discov- historians and geographers, such as Hesiod, However, it did include a variety of minerals for and a slightly reddish-tainted iron was used in rably linked to the earth since they first ap- The oldest traces of human habitation located ered and exploited obsidian, an inexhaustible Aristotle, Strabo, Diodorus, Herodotus, specialised uses. The following were mined medicine for the arrest of bleeding. peared on this planet, and they were greatly de- in the Cyclades date back to the end of the 5th mil- source of island wealth, at a fairly early stage. Xenophon, Pliny, Plutarch, and others. and traded: From the beginning of the Byzantine era on- pendent on mineral materials. After an extremely lenium B.C. The mild Cycladic climate favoured Increasing requirements for the manufacture However, beginning during the period of Sulphur: Large quantities of sulphur were wards, millstones were much in demand and they slow process of evolution of the species, which early settlements and the strategic geographic lo- of more sophisticated stone tools for all kinds of Greek antiquity, which includes the last eight mined in Milos in the ancient Greek era. It was were exported as far away as Egypt and Italy. In Kaolin lasted hundreds of thousands of years, the various cation of the islands supported the development uses before, but also after, the advent of copper centuries B.C., Rhodopi, Mt. Pangaeon, Thas- used for disinfecting, antiseptic and religious fact, a “Kommerkion” or customs house for miner- Obsidian kinds of pithecanthropus primates made their of one of the earliest civilizations in Europe. in the Aegean (3000 B.C), could only be satisfied sos, Laureotica, Kythnos, Serifos, Sifnos etc. purposes. als was set up in Milos. Mining History of the Island of Milos:Mining History of the island of Milos 9/25/08 4:33 PM Page 1

The Mining History of the Island of Milos The exploitation of In 1992, following an international tender, Silver the mineral wealth of Milos & Baryte Ores Mining Co. S.A. acquired relevant mining rights and started prospecting for de- ollowing liberation from Turkish rule, the posits of epithermal gold on Milos. The genesis of FGreek state begins to deal in a rather Finally, to complete the story, we must more or less systematic way with mines, mention the efforts extended by the Public thegreekland some 30 years after its establishment. Power Corporation to exploit geothermal energy. On August 24, 1861, the first law “On mines After a leakage in the facilities of the geothermal and quarries” is published in the Government field and the resulting problems, the work which Gazette. Until then, only small quantities of lig- had been started a few years earlier in associa- undreds of nite, emery, Thera earth, gypsum and millstones tion with MITSUBISHI of Japan was suspended millions of were mined. indefinitely. Also, the Milos salt pans, a state- H In 1862, the first Concession is issued in the owned enterprise and an old state monopoly, years ago, name of Vas. Melas concerning the exploitation were conceded for exploitation to Greek of sulphur at the site of Palioremma on Milos. Salines S.A. in 1985. the land of Greece This concession was subsequently extended to At present, Milos is the greatest production was covered by the other sites. It has to be noted that a few years lat- and processing center for bentonite and perlite er, developments concerning the exploitation of in the European union. Seven hundred thou- sea. The sea floor, the Laurion mines began, that led to the notorious production of Milos mineral products. The com- sand tons of bentonite and 450,000 tons of from the Ionian Sea Laurion Affair (1871-73) which resulted in the pany gradually grew to an impressive size and perlite are mined and undergo the first stage of resignation of two governments. is now a leading producer of bentonite and per- processing on Milos. More than 90% of these to Asia Minor, had a To return to Milos, the sulphur mines were in lite. quantities is exported. Apart from these two full production by 1890, turning out some 15,000 In 1952 the G. Bourlos company settled on basic minerals, Milos exports kaolin, pozzolane peculiar morphology, tons annually. Production was stopped in 1905. Milos and began mining and selling kaolin and andsilicatesandcontinuestoproducesmall which formed the In 1886, the “Sifnos-Euboea Company” bentonite. G. Bourlos was a chemical engineer quantities of baryte. mined galena for lead and silver in the area of and a pioneer in the study of Greek bentonite This is the mining history of Milos. To avoid basis for the creation Triades, after three years of previous mining ac- since a considerable part of our knowledge making its presentation too tedious, I have tried tivity for related minerals in the same area. about this mineral is due to his efforts. to vary it by the addition of some geological and of the greek peninsula The sea floor assumed this form approximately trench, the Ionian trench filled up in its turn, The extraction of a manganese (pyrolusite) In 1952, the Svoronos brothers with the historical data. Still, I believe that even lay persons with its high central 180 million years ago ( in the early Mesozoic era) mainly with weathering products, while in the deposit at the site of Vani began in 1890. This Zannos brothers and H. Triantis established must realize that Milos contains such a large va- and maintained it for another 150 million years un- early Miocene (15 million years ago), another tec- activity was permanently discontinued in 1928. the company known as “Milos Sulphur Mines riety of rocks, ores and minerals that they make mountain ranges. til the Oligocene. In this inconceivably long period tonic event caused the emergence of the largest In 1899, the importance of the Kaolin found S.A.” Jas. Svoronos had taken out a patent on the island itself a great mining museum. In the location of the of time, the two trenches filled with sediment from part of Western Greece. Thus, Aegeis came up on Milos was revealed. Kaolin production in the a process for extracting sulphur from sulfate- I think that the intention of the founding the weathering of far-off mountain masses or from from the bottom of the sea as a solid and undi- 1960’s amounted to 100,000 tons annually. containing rocks in 1938. company, Silver & Baryte Ores Mining Co. Pindos massif, there shells of marine animals and remains of microor- vided land mass covering approximately the The Klonaridis plant, built in 1925 as a Kaolin In 1953, MYKOBAR settled on Milos and S.A., in establishing the Mining Museum was ganisms, which fell like everlasting rain as they present area of Greece from the Ionian sea to processing plant, was recently renovated by started mining bentonite. In 1955 the first ben- indeed to create a miniature of that far greater was a deep submarine died and settled on the sea floor. Asia Minor and to the south of Crete. the ORYMIL Company to serve as a centre for tonite shipments were exported and a little later, one and to present it not only to the inhabitants trench - the Pindos Meanwhile, 140 million years ago, in the early Three million years ago (middle-upper cultural events. in 1957, the first perlite shipments followed, after of Milos but to all the Greeks, as the first mu- Cretaceous, a major orogenic event elevated the Pliocene) explosive volcanic activity occurred as In 1934 the Silver & Baryte Ores Mining the great importance of perlite had been recog- seum dedicated solely to mining in the country. trench. The Ionian so-called Pelagonian range, a narrow strip of land a result of a new collision of continental plates, Co. S.A. acquired the rights to mine barite and nised in 1954. The absence of a mining museum in Greece including the northernmost part of Macedonia which -through its various stages- created the established itself on Milos, in the area of Voudia. In 1955 the company known as “M. Pa- was certainly inconsistent with such a rich and trench extended farther (Pelagonia), Mt. Olympus, Eastern Thessaly and minerals mainly mined in Milos today. A serious effort began to ensure industrial pamicail S.A.”, an affiliate of TITAN CEMENT incomparable mining history going back to the west, while a high Northern Euboea, above sea level. The so-called At the end of the Pliocene (two million years S.A., acquired 50% of EMCHE, which was es- remotest antiquity. A museum of this nature is Attic-Cycladic mass, including Attica, South ago), the Mediterranean waters began to move. tablished on Milos since 1947, and started min- certainly to inspire admiration by the wealth of wall-the Gabrovo Euboea and most Cycladic Islands, is regarded This was the beginning of the formation of the ing kaolin. In 1956, the quarrying of millstones its exhibits and of the information presented. as the extension of that mountain range. Aegean sea. was discontinued. ridge - separated the Thirty five million years ago (late Eocene), As the centuries passed, the sea moved in- In 1958, Sulphur Mines S.A. failed and a little General conclusion two trenches. when the Pindos trench had already filled up, a land, slowly but surely. The land mass of the later (1961), Eleusis Bauxites S.A. of the Skalis- real cosmogony occured in the depths of the Aegeis became fragmented in some places, and tiris Group purchased the Milos Sulphur Mines. ver since the Neolithic period, Milos has Greek earth, caused by the violent convergence submerged in others. Huge lakes were formed. Still later (1978) these passed to M.B. & N. En- Elargely relied on mining, processing and and collision of continental plates (the African and The final stage was completed during the terprises S.A. trading obsidian. Now, ten thousand the Eurasian plates). Following a mighty upward Pleistocene (2 million - 10,000 years ago), by In 1988, “Lava” S.A., an affiliate of AGET, a years later, Milos still relies largely for its eco- push, the trench sediments materials folded and which time, following a series of land submersions greek cement producing company, became nomic growth and the improvement of the living rose, forming the impressive Pindos ridge. Alpine from sea transgressions, the land of Greece had Text: Talk by Professor of Athens Technical University Mr. John N. Economopoulos, Adamas, 848 01 Milos, Greece, established on Milos and started mining poz- standard of its inhabitants, on the exploitation foldingalsooccurredduringthisperiod. essentially assumed its final form, while the vol- at the opening of Milos Mining Museum. May 23, 1998 tel. +30 22870 22481 zolan from 1990 on. of its mineral wealth. Millions of years went by. After the Pindos canic activity had subsided 100,000 years before. Sponsored by: S&B Industrial Minerals S.A., www.sandb.com - May 2008/c-3000 fax +30 22870 23984 www.milosminingmuseum.com The Mining History of the Island of Milos The exploitation of In 1992, following an international tender, Silver N the mineral wealth of Milos & Baryte Ores Mining Co. S.A. acquired relevant mining rights and started prospecting for de- ollowing liberation from Turkish rule, the posits of epithermal gold on Milos. The genesis of Greek state begins to deal in a rather Finally, to complete the story, we must Fmore or less systematic way with mines, mention the efforts extended by the Public the greek land Μilos Isl. Trachilas some 30 years after its establishment. Power Corporation to exploit geothermal energy. Apollonia On August 24, 1861, the first law “On mines After a leakage in the facilities of the geothermal Fyropotamos and quarries” is published in the Government field and the resulting problems, the work which Phylacopi Gazette. Until then, only small quantities of lig- had been started a few years earlier in associa- undreds of Voudia Vani nite, emery, Thera earth, gypsum and millstones tion with MITSUBISHI of Japan was suspended millions of were mined. indefinitely. Also, the Milos salt pans, a state- In 1862, the first Concession is issued in the owned enterprise and an old state monopoly, years ago, Aggeria & Agia Irini name of Vas. Melas concerning the exploitation were conceded for exploitation to Greek H the land of Greece Adamas of sulphur at the site of Palioremma on Milos. Salines S.A. in 1985. This concession was subsequently extended to Nychia At present, Milos is the greatest production was covered by the other sites. It has to be noted that a few years lat- and processing center for bentonite and perlite er, developments concerning the exploitation of in the European union. Seven hundred thou- sea. The sea floor, Demenegaki Triades Embourio Kanava the Laurion mines began, that led to the notorious production of Milos mineral products. The com- sand tons of bentonite and 450,000 tons of from the Ionian Sea Alykes Laurion Affair (1871-73) which resulted in the pany gradually grew to an impressive size and perlite are mined and undergo the first stage of resignation of two governments. is now a leading producer of bentonite and per- processing on Milos. More than 90% of these to Asia Minor, had a Ralaki Palioremma To return to Milos, the sulphur mines were in lite. quantities is exported. Apart from these two Chalakas full production by 1890, turning out some 15,000 In 1952 the G. Bourlos company settled on basic minerals, Milos exports kaolin, pozzolane peculiar morphology, tons annually. Production was stopped in 1905. Milos and began mining and selling kaolin and and silicates and continues to produce small which formed the In 1886, the “Sifnos-Euboea Company” bentonite. G. Bourlos was a chemical engineer quantities of baryte. Tsigrado mined galena for lead and silver in the area of and a pioneer in the study of Greek bentonite This is the mining history of Milos. To avoid basis for the creation Triades, after three years of previous mining ac- since a considerable part of our knowledge making its presentation too tedious, I have tried tivity for related minerals in the same area. about this mineral is due to his efforts. to vary it by the addition of some geological and of the greek peninsula The sea floor assumed this form approximately trench, the Ionian trench filled up in its turn, Xylokeratia The extraction of a manganese (pyrolusite) In 1952, the Svoronos brothers with the historical data. Still, I believe that even lay persons with its high central 180 million years ago ( in the early Mesozoic era) mainly with weathering products, while in the deposit at the site of Vani began in 1890. This Zannos brothers and H. Triantis established must realize that Milos contains such a large va- and maintained it for another 150 million years un- early Miocene (15 million years ago), another tec- activity was permanently discontinued in 1928. the company known as “Milos Sulphur Mines riety of rocks, ores and minerals that they make mountain ranges. til the Oligocene. In this inconceivably long period tonic event caused the emergence of the largest In 1899, the importance of the Kaolin found S.A.” Jas. Svoronos had taken out a patent on the island itself a great mining museum. In the location of the of time, the two trenches filled with sediment from part of Western Greece. Thus, Aegeis came up on Milos was revealed. Kaolin production in the a process for extracting sulphur from sulfate- I think that the intention of the founding the weathering of far-off mountain masses or from from the bottom of the sea as a solid and undi- 1960’s amounted to 100,000 tons annually. containing rocks in 1938. company, Silver & Baryte Ores Mining Co. Pindos massif, there shells of marine animals and remains of microor- vided land mass covering approximately the The Klonaridis plant, built in 1925 as a Kaolin In 1953, MYKOBAR settled on Milos and S.A., in establishing the Mining Museum was ganisms, which fell like everlasting rain as they present area of Greece from the Ionian sea to processing plant, was recently renovated by started mining bentonite. In 1955 the first ben- indeed to create a miniature of that far greater was a deep submarine died and settled on the sea floor. Asia Minor and to the south of Crete. the ORYMIL Company to serve as a centre for tonite shipments were exported and a little later, one and to present it not only to the inhabitants trench - the Pindos Meanwhile, 140 million years ago, in the early Three million years ago (middle-upper cultural events. in 1957, the first perlite shipments followed, after of Milos but to all the Greeks, as the first mu- Cretaceous, a major orogenic event elevated the Pliocene) explosive volcanic activity occurred as Legend In 1934 the Silver & Baryte Ores Mining the great importance of perlite had been recog- seum dedicated solely to mining in the country. trench. The Ionian so-called Pelagonian range, a narrow strip of land a result of a new collision of continental plates, Co. S.A. acquired the rights to mine barite and nised in 1954. The absence of a mining museum in Greece trench extended farther including the northernmost part of Macedonia which -through its various stages- created the Bentonite Silica established itself on Milos, in the area of Voudia. In 1955 the company known as “M. Pa- was certainly inconsistent with such a rich and (Pelagonia), Mt. Olympus, Eastern Thessaly and minerals mainly mined in Milos today. A serious effort began to ensure industrial pamicail S.A.”, an affiliate of TITAN CEMENT incomparable mining history going back to the Northern Euboea, above sea level. The so-called At the end of the Pliocene (two million years Pozzolan west, while a high Kaolin S.A., acquired 50% of EMCHE, which was es- remotest antiquity. A museum of this nature is Attic-Cycladic mass, including Attica, South ago), the Mediterranean waters began to move. Zeolites Mangαnese Ore tablished on Milos since 1947, and started min- certainly to inspire admiration by the wealth of wall-the Gabrovo Euboea and most Cycladic Islands, is regarded This was the beginning of the formation of the ing kaolin. In 1956, the quarrying of millstones its exhibits and of the information presented. as the extension of that mountain range. Aegean sea. Barite Millstones ridge - separated the was discontinued. Thirty five million years ago (late Eocene), As the centuries passed, the sea moved in- Perlite Obsidian In 1958, Sulphur Mines S.A. failed and a little General conclusion two trenches. when the Pindos trench had already filled up, a land, slowly but surely. The land mass of the Sulphur later (1961), Eleusis Bauxites S.A. of the Skalis- real cosmogony occured in the depths of the Aegeis became fragmented in some places, and tiris Group purchased the Milos Sulphur Mines. ver since the Neolithic period, Milos has Greek earth, caused by the violent convergence submerged in others. Huge lakes were formed. Still later (1978) these passed to M.B. & N. En- largely relied on mining, processing and and collision of continental plates (the African and The final stage was completed during the terprises S.A. Etrading obsidian. Now, ten thousand the Eurasian plates). Following a mighty upward Pleistocene (2 million - 10,000 years ago), by In 1988, “Lava” S.A., an affiliate of AGET, a years later, Milos still relies largely for its eco- push, the trench sediments materials folded and which time, following a series of land submersions greek cement producing company, became nomic growth and the improvement of the living rose, forming the impressive Pindos ridge. Alpine from sea transgressions, the land of Greece had Text: Talk by Professor of Athens Technical University Mr. John N. Economopoulos, Adamas, 848 01 Milos, Greece, established on Milos and started mining poz- standard of its inhabitants, on the exploitation folding also occurred during this period. essentially assumed its final form, while the vol- at the opening of Milos Mining Museum. May 23, 1998 tel. +30 22870 22481 zolan from 1990 on. of its mineral wealth. Millions of years went by. After the Pindos canic activity had subsided 100,000 years before. Sponsored by: S&B Industrial Minerals S.A., www.sandb.com - May 2008/c-3000 fax +30 22870 23984 www.milosminingmuseum.com