The importance and usefulness of iron generated a wide network of mining facilities for its exploitation. In the northwest of Spain, the mines of Formigueiros (O Courel) and those of Roques (A Pobra do Brollón) stand out for their quality and production. The beginnings of the activity are located during the Roman rule, experiencing the period of greatest splendor between the Middle Ages and the end of the 19th century. Linked to the mineral deposit of Roques, a town was established in the place, which was born to welcome the miners and which over time became a rural village The Roques Valley. This deposit was exploited both in the open air (mine of Buratos or Graíl) and through underground galleries (A Devesa, A Cortiña, As Cabanas,…). The miners worked manually, tearing out pieces of rock in which the iron ore was found, using picks, crowbars, wedges and mallets. In this way, they supplied the ore to the ironworks of the region (Biduedo, Loureiro, Baldomir, Barxa do Lor, Penacova,...) where rocks containing large amounts of impurities were melted to transform them into iron ingots or bars. Precisely the ferrería de Loureiro is another tourist resource of interest.
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