The article is based on a 1982 report of archaeological studies of ancient mining and metallurgy in Huelva province (southwest Spain). The scale and extent of the remains indicate the importance of metal in the province's history. Copper mining and smelting appears to be an indigenous development some 6000 years ago, based on mixing green malachite with the self-fluxing red gossan. Silver and arsenical copper begin to appear in the 3rd millennium BC. After a period of stagnation, activity revived in the Late Bronze Age (from ca 1200 BC) was greatly stimulated by the Phoenicians and continued under the Roman Republic. There was little change in techniques during this time, but the emphasis shifted from copper to silver. The Empire, however, brought a huge increase in activity, the copper ores being intensively worked by standard Roman methods. Information is given on equipment and techniques used at various periods. -- AATA