Mavridia Mine
Mavridia was the first mine in the Kalavasos area where modern mining began in 1937.
Mavridia is located between the Petra and Platies mines and it is the first mine in the Kalavasos region in which modern mining activities begun in 1937. It is the largest in terms of reserves and production of copper-bearing ore. The Mavridia mine includes six deposits with an aggregate volume of 5,750,000 tones. The Mousoulou deposit is the largest of them with a volume of 2,500,000 tones and with an average content of 2% in copper and 40% in sulphur. This deposit was discovered in 1946 and was name the Mousoulou deposit in honour of professor L. Mousoulou who substantially contributed to its discovery by GMC.
Since the beginning of the mining activities in the Mavridia region in 1937 and up to the termination of production in 1978, a total of 3.2 million tones of ore were produced. At the same period, the export of ore from the Mavridia region's deposits amounted to approximately 2 million tones.
The mines of Kalavasos provided employment to the rural population of the neighbouring villages and offered a great sum to the economy of Cyprus through the import of foreign currency. The operations of the mines were essential for the economy of the island.
Today the mines remain shut and abandoned. The Community Council of Kalavasos has scheduled the maintenance of the entrance of the Mousoulou mine so that the visitors will observe the mining process of the ore as it was done in older times.
