Mineral Research Center – MSc diploma project 2016

architect: Fruzsina Augusztinyi

architectural consultant: Péter Kovács DLA

Choosing the location of my thesis plan was strongly determined by my personal experiences. The magic of Erdőbénye derives from the picturesque landscape and lovely, cozy places. The village is located at the foot of Mulató hill, which became famous in the 1920s due to the Hubertus quarry where andesite and rhyolite stones – mostly used for road and house contruction – were extracted using explosive mining technology and human power for a long time. The plot was marked out for me by the old front wall of the quarry at the foot of the Mulató hill. The section of wall left from the quarry stands on a mountain spur that can be bypassed by vehicles. It is left over fom Barna-máj hill, which was also mined the same way. As a result of mining a mountain lake was formed, which was continously pumped in the 1920s due to the accessibility of the mine.

Many mineral deposits have been registered in the area. The most importants are Aranyos Valley, Ligetmajor diatom field, Csipkés ditch and Mogyorósok, where opal and hydroquartzite were also excavated. The area is still frequently visited by mineral explorers, although the former mining area is private property and con only be entered with permission.

The Mulató Mountain was famous from a mineral and petrological point of view, for its huge bladder cavities, for the new mineral discovered here: mauritsite, and for mining, without which these findings would never have come to the surface.
The area lies in a landscape that is interesting from many points of view, so making a concept wasn’t an easy task. In the past 10 years, the place has been tried to be declared a nature conservation area several times, so far without success. Quarrying works starts periodically, when mineralogists appear ont he site, but the amount of extraction is small.

http://epiteszforum.hu/robbantott-kincsek-a-mulato-hegy-labanal