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Hotel & Asia Spa Leoben
A city hotel for seasoned travellers
The Erzberg (ore mountain) in Styria is the largest opencast mining operation in Central Europe and the largest siderite deposit in the world. This valuable mineral is a carbonate iron ore (iron spar, siderite) that occurs in enormously varying intensity with an iron magnesium carbonate known as ankerite.
The geological emergence of the Erzberg in Styria is still a matter of dispute. Recent research points to a leaching of the volcanic basis of the Erzberg through circulating water. Hydraulic hot springs, with their high iron content, penetrated the sedimentation basin in the Palaeozoic era and through precipitation changed the lime sludge into iron carbonate.
The multiplicity of distorted patterns that is today visible on the freshly quarried surfaces is the result of the reactions between siderite, ankerite and lime in the course of the two subsequent mountain formations.
Mining exhibition
Visit the underground labyrinth of the Erzberg and experience the working environment of the miners both then and now. Travel with the “Katl”, a former miners’ train, deep down into the belly of the iron giant and see how ore was until recently extracted from underground. More information at...
Activities and events – click here...