From 1927 to 1976, the “white gold” for the production of refractory materials was mined here in the highest magnesite mining area in Europe. After the closure, the plant was demolished and the landscape renatured. Therefore, only a few remains in the area and a few buildings remind of it today: two former residential buildings, called Schrofenhäuser, as well as the Barbara Chapel with the fresco by the Tyrolean painter Max Weiler.
Incidentally, the Tux magnesite plant is of particular interest to those of you who are hungry for the slopes, as the first cable car and the first chairlift in the Zillertal were built here! From 1953, the latter transported workers to opencast mining, and in winter it was used as a ski lift.
Construction of an auxiliary cable car began as early as 1923, which was replaced in 1961 with the more modern Schrofenbahn, the valley station of which has still been preserved. In 1924, the material ropeway was also built, a section of which is still used by the Horbergbahn today. Nevertheless, no one suspected at the time that the history of the Zillertal would change from mining to cable car construction!