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Decision 33 COM 8B.26
Cultural properties - New Nominations - Mercury and Silver Binomial: Almadén, Idrija and San Luis Potosí (Mexico, Slovenia, Spain)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Documents WHC-09/33.COM/8B and WHC-09/33.COM/INF.8B1,

2. Refers the nomination of the Mercury and Silver Binomial: Almadén, Idrija and San Luis Potosí, Mexico, Slovenia and Spain, back to the States Parties in order to allow them to:

a) Reconsider the definition of the property in San Luis Potosí, but also with its mining region, and more broadly in comparison with the other silver extraction sites using the amalgamation process in Mexico, to bring it into line with the mining and industrial theme of the mercury and silver binomial, and so to establish its Outstanding Universal Value. An inventory of the technical and industrial heritage linked to the silver mines would be necessary for such a redefinition;

b) Give consideration to a new name for the serial property, as the term Camino Real, specific to the Spanish colonial empire of the 16th to 18th centuries, is inappropriate for the Idrija site. The name must also reflect the two sites dedicated to the extraction of mercury;

3. Recommends that the States Parties should give consideration to the following points:

a) Reflecting on the extension of the property, on the one hand to include properties already inscribed because of silver mines in Bolivia and other countries in the Andes, and on the other hand to include the Huancavelica mercury mine in Peru;

b) Better integration into the definition of the property of the concepts of pollution and risks to human health that might arise from the production and use of mercury. The International Institute planned at Idrija for the study and the raising of public awareness of these issues is supported;

c) Inclusion of any additional component parts in the series not yet inscribed on the World Heritage List would require a new nomination.

Decision Code
33 COM 8B.26
Themes
Inscriptions on the World Heritage List
States Parties 3
Year
2009
Documents
WHC-09/33.COM/20
Final Decisions of the 33rd Session of the World Heritage Committee (Seville, 2009)
Context of Decision
WHC-09/33.COM/8B
WHC-09/33.COM/INF.8B1
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