The building that houses the museum was originally designed in 1921 as a hospital for the Rio Tinto Company Limited (RTC) staff, and was used for that purpose between 1927 and 1983.

In this context, the Rio Tinto corporation offered to cede the building of the former RTC hospital to house the headquarters of the planned museum.

The facilities opened their doors to the public in 1992,[4] as part of a series of initiatives aimed at setting up the so-called Riotinto Mining Park.

[5] The museum has sixteen thematic rooms whose historical themes range from prehistory to the end of the 20th century,[6] coinciding with the cessation of activity that the Riotinto mines experienced at that time.

Another of its rooms is dedicated to the historic Riotinto railway and has on display a variety of material, including several steam locomotives.