The hydrothermal ore deposit in the former mining town of Baia Sprie has become the first site in Romania to be included on the geological heritage list recognized by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), the team behind the Gutai-Maramures UNESCO Geopark project announced on Friday.

The international recognition was announced at an event held on November 3-6 at the Algarvensis UNESCO Geopark in Portugal, where the third edition of the global geological heritage list, The Third 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Sites, was unveiled.

Located in Maramures County, the Baia Sprie hydrothermal deposit was selected for its scientific significance and is regarded as 'a reference site for understanding the evolution of hydrothermal mineral deposits, offering exceptional mineralogical diversity.'

'The Baia Sprie hydrothermal deposit in Maramures County was selected for inclusion in The Third 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Sites, the third group of geological sites considered outstanding for their scientific value and importance in understanding the Earth and its history. The Baia Sprie hydrothermal deposit displays numerous unique features of exceptional heritage value in the fields of geology, mineralogy and mining history, including an extremely rich mineral assemblage of around 100 identified minerals, six of which were first discovered here worldwide,' the Gutai-Maramures UNESCO Geopark team said in a statement.

According to the same source, the Baia Sprie deposit is considered the oldest documented hydrothermal deposit in Europe, having appeared in specialist literature as early as 1774. Between then and 2025, it was the subject of 107 scientific papers, making it one of the world's most extensively studied hydrothermal deposits.

The area contains one of Europe's longest hydrothermal veins, stretching for more than five kilometres. The site also includes Blue Lake in the Gutai Mountains, a man-made lake formed by the collapse of an old mine gallery.

The proposal for the inclusion of the Baia Sprie hydrothermal deposit on the IUGS list was initiated and prepared by a team of geologists comprising Associate Professor Marinel Kovacs, Associate Professor Alexandru Szakács, Lecturer Ágnes Gál and Associate Professor Ioan Denut.

The four specialists are also members of the team working to establish the Gutâi-Maramure? UNESCO Geopark. The nominations were assessed by 104 geology experts from around the world.

At the IUGS event in Portugal, which brought together 156 international experts from 49 countries, Romania was represented by three of the proposal's authors, along with Baia Sprie Mayor Alin Sebastian Birda, a supporter of the initiative.

The presentation of the Baia Sprie hydrothermal deposit was delivered by Marinel Kovacs.

'This recognition places Romania on the map of sites of outstanding scientific and geological-historical value worldwide and, at the same time, confirms the existence of exceptional heritage assets within the volcanic area of the Gutâi Mountains, further justifying efforts to establish a UNESCO Geopark in Maramures,' said Marinel Kovacs. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Leontin Cupar; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)