Río Tinto Foundation

The Río Tinto Foundation (in Spanish: Fundación Río Tinto, FRT) is a Spanish cultural and non-profit institution based in the municipality of Minas de Riotinto, in the province of Huelva. The Foundation's objective is the study and preservation of the industrial heritage of the Río Tinto Company Limited, as well as its recovery in projects that generate added value in the Río Tinto region. The foundation is involved in numerous cultural and recreational initiatives.

Río Tinto Foundation

Fundación Río Tinto
Abbreviation	FRT
Formation	1987
Type	Foundation
Headquarters	Plaza del Museo s/n, Minas de Riotinto, Province of Huelva
President	María Benjumea
Website	fundacionriotinto.es

History

The foundation was created in 1987 by the Río Tinto Minera Company as a cultural and private institution,^[1] of a charitable nature, to take charge of the heritage generated over the decades by the companies that had operated the Rio Tinto Mines.^[2] Among the purposes of the FRT were the study of mining and metallurgy, as well as the conservation and restoration of the environmental and patrimonial heritage of the mining basin. To this end, the creation of a Mining Park for cultural, tourist and recreational purposes was foreseen, including the creation of a Mining Museum and the conservation of the Ríotinto railroad.^[3] After many years of work by the institution, the recovery of the historic railway line for tourist use, as well as the conservation and restoration of the railway heritage are to its credit.^[4] A fundamental part of this work was the launching, in November 1994, of the Tourist Mining Train. The FRT also manages the Riotinto Mining Museum, inaugurated in 1992,^[5] and the Mining Historical Archive, which holds the archival funds derived from the business activity of the successive owners of the mines.^[6]

Presidents

• Ernest Lluch Martín (1987–1991)
• José Rodríguez de la Borbolla (1991–2002)
• Rafael Benjumea Cabeza de Vaca (2002–2021)
• María Benjumea Cabeza de Vaca (2021–present)

See also

• Riotinto-Nerva mining basin