The investigations were concentrated in the area of the factory on the right bank of the river Sessera, built for processing the mineral galena from Argentera superior, and in ruins from at least 1835. The excavations exposed a rectangular building constructed on a man-made platform, supported and contained by retaining walls, terracing, a series of channels, partially underground, and a haulage ramp situated at the end of a haulage track over 300m long.

After its construction, the factory only underwent minor alterations, which did not modify its structure to any great extent. It was equipped to undertake the entire metalworking cycle for the transformation of the mineral into sands and other enriched materials, suitable for supply to the nearby foundries. The installation, of proto-industrial design, met the needs of operative rationality, structural solidity, and architectural decorum. When the metalworking structures went out of use, the site was partially occupied by shepherds, who adapted a limited part of the complex to their needs.

Unglazed, glazed, and taches noires pottery, dating to the second half of the 18th century can be attributed to the factory’s period of use. The site was definitively abandoned at the beginning of the 19th century, as indicated by more recent fragments of black earthenware pottery found.