24/05/2019 – 8TH INFORMATIVE TALK WITH MALENA CAZORLA

Last 24th of May, Malena Cazorla was invited to our 8th Informative Talk. Malena Cazorla is a 4th Undergraduate student that participated in the V Jornades sobre el Bosc de Poblet i les Muntanyes de Prades, on November 2018. In this meeting, several people were invited to talk about the Prades Mountains and the Poblet Forest, in order to improve the knowledge related with these areas in terms of history, biodiversity and geology. In the meeting, Malena Cazorla gave two talks entitled "Sal de llop de les serralades costaneres catalanes" (“Sal de llop” at the Catalan Coastal Ranges) and "Minerals industrials del bosc de Poblet" (Industrial minerals from the Poblet Forest). 

For the Informative Talk, Malena exposed the contents of these two talks she gave. Therefore, the main topic was the small-scale mining performed at the Prades Mountains and the Poblet Forest in the last centuries. She focused on the mining of sal de llop (a variety of calcite) and the industrial minerals from the Silurian slates. This type of small-scale mining was very common during the late periods of the Middle Age and the early modern period, as the sal de llop was needed for the production of glass (mixed with an alkali and silica), whereas the industrial minerals, like halotrichite and copiapite, were used as mordant. 

The talk was not only focused on what she exposed at the meeting in Poblet. She also encouraged our student members to participate in these type of meetings. She concluded that this experience gave her the opportunity to learn new things about mining and to get to know some researchers related with the topic and the area (the Prades Mountains and Poblet Forest), and also gave her the opportunity to improve her presenting skills and to gain experience when it comes to exposing. 

Again, we want to thank Malena for giving this talk and for encouraging our students to participate in extracurricular events.

Website of the Meeting: http://parcsnaturals.gencat.cat/ca/detalls/Noticia/V-Jornades-El-Bosc-de-Poblet