Zaruma is host to the ‘‘El Sexmo’’ tourist mine, the galleries of which extend below the city, and its exploitation dates back to precolonial times. The mining boom created important development in the area, but informal mining also emerged causing environmental issues and safety problems. This study presents a qualitative and quantitative assessment of the “El Sexmo” Tourist Mine in the context of its potential as a tourism geosite and mining site. The methodological stages included: (i) The process and systematization of the general mine information and its surroundings; (ii) the assessment of the geological and mining interest of the mine, through GAM and Brilha method; and (iii) description and proposal of action strategies through Delphi analysis and a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) matrix. Based on the results of the quantitative evaluation, the high values in the educational, scientific, and tourist aspects of the two applied methodologies, show the mine as a potential geosite and mining site with added cultural value. In addition, the quantitative assessment in correspondence with the qualitative analysis, allowed to propose improvement strategies to take advantage of the geological resources and mining identity of the area, as an alternative that strengthens the infrastructure of the mine and consolidates the geotouristic development of the area.

Stability problems in rock masses are one of the main causes of subsidence events in underground mining areas. Zaruma, in the South of Ecuador, is characterised by mineral wealth, in which 65% of the population depends directly on artisanal mining activity. However, mineral extraction, without technical considerations and in many cases illegal, has negatively impacted the stability of tunnels generated under the city’s urban area, reporting subsidence events in recent years. The aim of this study is to geomechanically characterise the main gallery of the tourist mine “El Sexmo” using two classic methods of geomechanical classification for the configuration of a model that complies with the 3G’s (geotourism, geoconservation, and geoeducation) and supports the culture of sustainability in all areas of the sector. The methodology consists of (i) a field study design, (ii) a geological–geomechanical survey of the rock mass of a tourist mine using rock mass rating (RMR) and the Q-Barton index, and (iii) establishing a 3G’s model for sustainable development. The results reveal that 100% of the rock mass of the tourist mine presents a rock quality classified as “Fair” (class III) by the RMR method, while, via the Q-Barton method, 92.9% of the rock mass obtains a “Poor” rating, except for station S05, rated “Very Poor”. Furthermore, the study proposes additional support measures for three specific stations based on Q-Barton assessments, including fibre-reinforced sprayed concrete and bolting and reinforced ribs of sprayed concrete, considering that the mine is more than 500 years old and maintains geological features for geoeducation in geotechnical mining. Technical and social problems demand an innovative strategy, which, in this work, focuses on the 3G’s model based on the quintuple innovation helix to develop sustainable underground geotourism.