Aethel Mining
 | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. (September 2025) |
 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Mining |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Headquarters | , |
| Key people | Ricardo Santos Silva and Aba Schubert |
| Products | Iron ore |
| Website | www |
Aethel Mining is a British mining company headquartered in London and owned by Ricardo Santos Silva and Aba Schubert.[1] Aethel Mining is the operator of the Torre de Moncorvo mines in Portugal, the largest private iron ore deposit in Europe.[2] The mine had been dormant for over 37 years before the Portuguese Directorate-General for Energy and Geology gave the mining concession to Aethel Mining in November 2019.[3]
The Portuguese state cancelled the Moncorvo concession for "legal and contractual non-compliance" in April 2025.
History
[edit]The company was founded in 2015 in the United Kingdom, after its predecessor Aethel Mining Portugal Limited was founded in 2012. In 2019 it obtained the concession and control of the Torre de Moncorvo mines in Portugal from the Portuguese government. It started its operations at the mine in 2020.
In 2011, before the company was founded, Rio Tinto made an offer of over 1 billion euros for the Torre de Moncorvo mines.[4][5] However, Rio Tinto later decided to withdraw from the project, opting to focus on a narrower range of mine developments, such as iron ore projects in Western Australia and Guinea, and the Oyu Tolgoi copper project in Mongolia.[6]
Operations and production
[edit]The mine produces iron ore.[7]
As of 2023[update], the Torre de Moncorvo mines had proven and probable reserves of 558 million tons, with an additional 254 million tons of possible reserves.[7] They were valued at approximately 58.2 billion euros. This valuation corresponds to about one-third of the wealth in Portugal, highlighting the potential economic impact of the mine's development and operation on the local and national economies.[8]
The Portuguese state cancelled the Moncorvo concession for "legal and contractual non-compliance" in April 2025.[9]
References
[edit]- ↑ "Governo confirma inglesa Aethel Mining ao leme das Minas de Moncorvo". Dinheiro Vivo (in European Portuguese). 2019-11-05. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
- ↑ Lusa, Agência. "Minas de ferro de Moncorvo entram em atividade após 37 anos ao abandono". Observador (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-04-26.
- ↑ "Aethel Mining". Golden. March 20, 2020.
- ↑ "Portugal negoceia investimento mais de 1.000 ME Rio Tinto -Fontes". Reuters. 2011-10-21. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
- ↑ MarketWatch (21 October 2011). "Rio Tinto may invest €1 billion in Portugual mines". MarketWatch. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
- ↑ "Rio Tinto to drop 1 billion euro Portugal project: sources". Reuters. 2012-07-11. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
- 1 2 Donn, Natasha (2022-07-05). "Torre de Moncorvo mines see business boom as result of Ukraine war". Portugal Resident. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
- ↑ "Reservas das minas de Moncorvo valem €58,2 mil milhões". Jornal Expresso (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-04-26.
- ↑ Alvelos, Heitor; Canha, Anselmo (2024), "Diário da República: Heavy Metal as a Territory of Ideological Emancipation", Music, the Avant-Garde, and Counterculture, Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, pp. 215–220, ISBN 978-3-031-69513-1, retrieved 2026-09-21
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