11
30°36′55″N / 34°53′23″E
October 9, 2011. Open-pit gypsum mine, founded in the 1950s, at the base of the Ramon Crater. The presence of rich mineral deposits in the crater led to extensive mining in the years following the establishment of the state. After more than forty years of exploiting the resources, the resulting damage to the ecosystem led to increasing pressure from environmentalists regarding the wound that these mines were inflicting on the landscape. Finally, in 1994, in recognition of the conflict between mining and nature conservation, the government vowed to stop mining and to promote the planning of a rehabilitation campaign dedicated to restoring the crater for conservation and desert tourism. The Israeli Lands Administration embarked upon a quarry restoration program, and thirty quarries have since been restored. Despite the claims that all mining operations have ceased, several quarries and mines continue to operate within the crater.