The story goes that a shepherd from Lula, one Evaristo Mureddu, discovered on the slope of Monte Albo the traces of an ancient Roman lead mine, and mentioned this fact to some prospectors who were exploring the area, which La Marmora had reported as having some interesting minerals.
Thus in 1864 the Paganelli brothers obtained the concession and, with partners Guerrieri and Accade started industrial activity at Sos Enattos. After about ten years they sold their rights to a lady - Raimondo Angioni widow Sancio - who however merely acted as gobetween with the new concessionaires headed by an expert mining engineer, Emilio Jacob.
Thus mining works were reorganised, increasing output, and above all discovering new seams, rich in lead and silver.
However, the mine had a slow return on investment and required new capital injections, leading Jacob to hand it over in 1905 to Malfidano, the French company which was exploiting the calamine of salto di Gessa.
Here too blende (a zinc mineral) was plentiful and aroused the interest of the Pertusola company which took over the concession in the mid-193os. The war years, from 1940-45 saw suspension of work and a total loss of interest in the mine.
In 1952 a new application for concession was submitted by Montecatini in the name of a newly-formed company, RI.MI.SA. Ricerche Minerarie Sarde spa. After an extensive prospecting campaign, the new concession holder invested in the renewal of plant and equipment, hoping to achieve an output of some 500 tonnes per day of crude ore.
In the mid-196os the crisis started to hit, leading to downsizing of programmes and to the request for action by the Sardinian government to maintain employment. Thus in 1971 the whole capital of Rf.Ml.SA. passed from Monteponi-Montevecchio spa to the public company Ente Minerario Sardo. After years of operating difficulties, final closure of the mine took place in 1997.
