Restored coal mine interpretation centre at San Andrés de Turón, featuring a unique 1927 riveted-iron extraction tower with wooden cab, open to visitors in the Turón valley.
The Pozo Espinos is a disused coal mine at the barrio of Preximir, San Andrés de Turón, in the concejo of Mieres, Asturias. The Grupo Espinos was first operated from around 1905–06 in the valley of the río Turón. Hulleras de Turón, a Basque-capital company, sank the vertical shaft in 1927.
The shaft reached 330 metres depth and was connected underground by gallery to the nearby Pozo Santa Bárbara. The extraction tower above the shaft is a rare type in which the winding machinery is positioned in a wooden gabled cabin directly over the shaft mouth, mounted on four riveted-iron uprights seven metres high. The winding machine is an ASEA electric two-drum unit.
The embarque pavilion dates from 1930. In 1967 Hulleras de Turón was integrated into HUNOSA, after which the shaft served briefly as an auxiliary before all operations ceased. The Dirección General de Minería y Energía del Principado de Asturias restored the tower in 2002–03.
The former lampistería houses an Aula de Interpretación. The site is included in the Inventario del Patrimonio Cultural de Asturias and in the Catálogo Urbanístico of Mieres, and is linked to the Vía Verde del Valle within the Paisaje Protegido de las Cuencas Mineras.
The Grupo Espinos occupies a hillside of the Turón valley at Preximir, in the parish of San Andrés de Turón, concejo of Mieres. The first coal working in this sector of the valley dates from around 1870, when a Belgian-capital company began extracting coal for the Trubia arms factory. From around 1905–06 the Sociedad Hulleras del Turón began producing coal at the Grupo Espinos using mountain mining methods.
Hulleras de Turón was a company with Basque capital seeking coal for Bilbao siderurgy. The vertical shaft was sunk in 1927 to 330 metres depth. The extraction tower erected above it — four riveted-iron uprights converging at approximately seven metres height into a square, linked by pairs of oblique diagonal ties, and supporting a gabled wooden cabin which houses the winding machinery — is classified as a torre de extracción rather than a conventional headframe, as the ASEA electric two-drum winding machine (20 CV) is located directly above the shaft on the vertical.
Two cages each carried two wagons. A covered embarque pavilion was constructed in 1930. An underground gallery connected the Espinos shaft to the neighbouring Pozo Santa Bárbara.
A metal bridge linked the embarque to the Hulleras de Turón narrow-gauge railway running through the valley toward La Cuadriella. Other ancillary installations on site included offices, stabling, and a powder magazine cut into the hillside. In 1967, Hulleras de Turón was integrated into HUNOSA, and the Pozo Espinos briefly served as an auxiliary shaft before operations ceased.
After closure the site fell into abandonment. The Dirección General de Minería y Energía del Principado de Asturias undertook restoration of the tower and associated structures in 2002 and 2003, with architect Miguel García-Pola Vallejo directing the work. The lampistería was converted into an Aula de Interpretación.
An underground mirador was created in the adapted spoil heap. The extraction tower is noted as the oldest surviving example of this type in Asturias. The site is included in the Inventario del Patrimonio Cultural de Asturias and in the Catálogo Urbanístico of the concejo of Mieres.
It is linked to the Vía Verde del Valle de Turón, a former railway converted for pedestrian and cycling use, and lies within the Paisaje Protegido de las Cuencas Mineras.