The mines were managed by the Montecatini group, which later merged with Edison to form Montedison, one of the main industrial giants of 20th-century Italy. The industrial site known as Terra Rossa became the centre of mining activity in the Metalliferous Hills and, throughout the 20th century, was a vital resource for the local economy and population.

In 1909 a transport line was built to connect the mines to the Scarlino Scalo railway station, and two years later the first shipment departed by cableway. Scarlino quickly became one of the most important mining terminals in Europe. When rail transport was no longer sufficient to handle traffic volumes, maritime transport became necessary.

The mining terminal on the strip of land known as Terra Rossa then assumed a strategic role: thanks to sufficiently deep waters, a concrete pier was built near the coast to allow ships to dock. The unloading of ore was connected to the railway terminal via an extension of the cableway, which came into operation in 1919 and even crossed the hamlet of Puntone di Scarlino, reaching the back of today’s tourist marina.

By 1930, pyrite transported to Terra Rossa was stored in a huge silo with a capacity of 10,000 tonnes, still visible today. From there, an underground tunnel led to a second cableway, used to transfer the ore to the pier at sea, where it was loaded onto ships. This system remained in operation until 1968, when it was dismantled: Terra Rossa cove was no longer suitable for the new, larger merchant ships, and maritime transport was no longer competitive.

From that point onwards, the ore was transported by land until 1977, marking the end of an era for the local mining industry.