The sulphur mining industry in Sicily

Abstract

A brief history of the Sicilian sulphur industry from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries. Inhumane working conditions of “zolfatari” and “carusi”. Machines for the extraction of ore. Trade and export of sulphur: French and British merchants. Systems for melting sulphur. The Herman Frasch process and the end of the Sicilian world sulphur monopoly. The Cozzo Disi sulphur mine in Casteltermini: project of restoring and transforming it into a “Museum Mine”. The role of sulphur in the Italian Government’s decision to colonize Libya. An adventurous Sicilian explorer: Ignazio Sanfilippo.