The European Mining Routes of Saint Barbara Federation – MINES.B is a path with multiple values in which the partners work with the determined intent to animate, redevelop and bring to light the potential of those territories which, after the end of the mining era, have suffered a vertical decline towards a social, economic and cultural degradation that still affects the new generations today.

The focus is on the mining history re-proposed through a tourist-cultural route that combines the most important mining sites in Europe as well as individual local itineraries, which have marked the evolutionary stages of civilization, with a view to handing down the memory to new generations, involving communities that live in the involved territories and attracting new flows of tourists and visitors to lead them to the discovery of the largest heritage of industrial archeology (material and immaterial) in human history.

Given the strong historical and cultural bond that unites the partners and the specificity that characterizes them in the mining sector, on 4 December 2020 (symbolic date as the patron saint of miners Santa Barbara is celebrated), they have decided to consecrate their unity of purpose, establishing a European Federation officially dedicated to the European Mining Itinerary of Santa Barbara (MINES B), for which they work steadily through the implementation of projects, common and shared initiatives: from participation in European programs to the exchange of young people, up to the organization of events that simultaneously take place in their reference mining sites in different countries, such as concerts, conferences, excursions and guided tours, shows, tastings, but also rites and celebrations in honor of Santa Barbara on 4 December each year.

The main objective of the Federation is to keep alive the history of the men and women of the mine, who have shaped their lives according to the mining activity that marked the rhythm of their days and their lives, to add precious and essential pieces of the evolution of humanity contributing to the construction of a common European identity.

The watchwords underlying the purposes and the entire activity of the itinerary are therefore: cooperation between partners; enhancement of the memory, history and European heritage linked to the life of the mine widely understood; cultural and educational exchanges for young Europeans in order to pass on the knowledge, history and traditions linked to the great mining epic; contemporary cultural and artistic practice through the creation of shared cultural entertainment events related to music and art, giving new life to the most significant places in mining archeology; and tourism and sustainable cultural development, favoring green mobility through the enhancement of pedestrian or cycle paths and itineraries along ancient mining paths immersed in a unique environmental landscape heritage in the world.