Masua and Porto Flavia, enchanted nook in front of the Pan di Zucchero

The Pisans gave an impulse to the extracting activity of Masua (Iglesias), like they did in a large part of the Sulcis-Iglesiente mines. During the nineteenth century there was the second phase, facilitated by the advent of the industrial machineries, which simplified the researching job and the metalwork process. Since then, it was realized the danger caused by the subsoil instability owed to the non-cultivated areas that, till today, set off landslides inside the mountain, sometimes with consequent overflows in the adjoining galleries and road surface subsidence.

In the Twenties, a Belgian company took over the mine and built one of the most beautiful work of the Sardinian heritage of mines: the mouth of Porto Flavia, which looks overhanging the promontory of Masua, onto the islet of Pan di Zucchero, at 15-20 meters of high from the sea surface. It allowed to ship the extracted minerals (lead and zinc) directly on the holds of the ships bound for Carloforte (San Pietro island).