HI
S
T
OR
YOFRE
S
E
ARCHI
NMI
NE
RALRE
S
OURCE
S
SEDPGYM
HI
S
T
OR
YOFRE
S
E
ARCHI
NMI
NE
RALRE
S
OURCE
S
PUBL
I
CACI
ONESDELI
NS
TI
TUTO GEOL
ÓGI
CO YMI
NERO DEES
PAÑA
S
er
i
e:CUADERNOSDELMUS
EO GEOMI
NERO.Nº13
E
d
i
t
e
db
y
:
J
o
s
éE
u
g
e
n
i
oOr
t
i
z
Oc
t
a
v
i
oP
u
c
h
e
I
s
a
b
e
l
Rá
b
a
n
o
L
u
i
s
.
F
.
Ma
z
a
d
i
e
g
o
J. E. Ortiz, O. Puche, I. Rábano and L. F. Mazadiego (eds.) History of Research in Mineral Resources. Cuadernos del Museo Geominero, 13.
Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, Madrid. ISBN 978-84-7840-856-6
© Instituto Geológico y Minero de España 2011
Metal mining in Central America (early 1500s-late 1800s)
Gerardo J. Soto
Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad. Escuela Centroamericana de Geología, Universidad de Costa Rica.
Terra Cognita Consultores S.A. Apdo. 360-2350, San Francisco de Dos Ríos, Costa Rica. [email protected]
Abstract. The most important metallic deposits of Central America have been mainly formed
throughout the magmatic-arc history of the isthmus, and most of them are hosted by Tertiary
volcanic rocks. Metal mining in Central America began in the pre-Columbian epoch, but experimented deep changes with the arrival of the Spaniards. The search for minerals was closely
intertwined with the conquest in the 16th century. Mining swiftly developed, performed by slave
labor and using primitive technology, with some techniques inherited from Amerindians. By the
17th-18th centuries, metal mines were producing mainly gold and silver and in lesser amounts
copper, lead and iron. Mines were distributed in all Central America, with the outstanding centers in Honduras. This industry contributed little to the well being of the region, though, since
most profits were required to contribute to the wealth and use of the Spanish Crown. Nevertheless, there are few data available for the colonial period, to assess an actual production for all
mines. Independence in 1821 and all the economic and political changes related to it, brought
as well changes in mining laws and owners. The arrival of naturalists and geologists by the mid
19th century promoted more exploration and production. Then, by 1860s the total production
amounted over half a million dollars a year. By the late 19th century, exploration started using
geology as a tool, and mining technology, which most of the time was behind, was modernized.
There are no comprehensive approximations about the environmental effects of mining during
the 16th-19th centuries, neither.
1. Why metallic deposits in Central America?
Present-day Central America is a narrow land-strip where the North American, Caribbean, Cocos, Nazca
and South American plates interact. Its formation has been the subject of a series of complex geologic
processes, with a basement dating at least from the Proterozoic and a volcanic arc that has a well constrained plate tectonic reconstruction from the Middle Jurassic (i.e., Mann et al., 2007). Thus, a wide variety
of subduction environments and their magmatic products have been present in Central American terranes
for long time. Therefore, the most important metallic deposits (epithermal Au deposits, usually with high
amounts of Ag, porphyry Cu, as well as others containing Pb, Zn, Ni, Co, Sb, W, Fe and Al) have been mainly
formed throughout the magmatic-arc history of the isthmus (some 80 Ma), most of them hosted by Tertiary
volcanic rocks. Other significant metal deposits are in recent alluvial placers, metasomatic rocks or laterites
(Nelson, 2007).
How and when these deposits were discovered and largely exploited, related to the Spanish arrival and
further socio-historical consequences, between the 16th and 19th centuries are the topics of this work.
89
Gerardo J. Soto
2. Pre-Columbian mining and Columbus arrival
Several sites of pre-Columbian mining have been identified in Central America. Most of them were for nonmetallic resources, as dimension stones, obsidian or jade. The case for gold (and silver and copper) mining was
remarkable, though, for providing material for craft goods, especially in Southern Central America, Honduras
and for the post-classical Maya period of Guatemala, in despite that there are few clues where most of the
pre-Columbian mines were located (Roberts and Irving, 1957; Escalante and Soto, 2007; Meléndez, 2010).
When Christopher Columbus proposed a voyage to Asia to the Portuguese and later the Spanish monarchs, he argued that he would find Zipangu and its gold, not India and its spices (cf. Oliveira e Costa, 1993).
Marco Polo, in his book on his journey to Asia (actually written by Rustichello, his prison mate) had included
fantastic descriptions of the gold, pearls and precious stones that adorned Zipangu, which became an inspiration and obsession to Columbus.
Columbus never realized (or did not want to) that he was not near Zipangu nor Cathay and their supposed immense wealth. Consequently, for his third voyage to the New World, he brought with him the miner
Pablo Beluis to whom the Spanish Crown gave a contract to “dig and sluice for gold¨ (Martino, 1988). On his
fourth voyage in 1502, having touched the Central American coasts, Columbus reported seeing natives carrying golden ornaments and artifacts. He wrote in a letter to the Catholic monarchs that he had seen in Veragua
(southern Central America, between Costa Rica and Panama) greater evidence of gold in two days than in
Hispaniola in four years (Fernández, 1913). The Adelantado Don Bartolomé Columbus, Christopher’s brother,
penetrated the province of Veragua in search of gold, especially the promised mines of Urirá and Veragua,
that were told to them by the Amerindians. That was a journey that rewarded them some fine gold (Hernando
Columbus, 1571). It was hence, the beginning of a huge thirst for precious metals in Central America.
3. Metal exploration and the Conquest
The search for minerals in the newly discovered continent became an important catalyst in exploring Central
America. The existence of metals would fill two of the most urgent needs of the Spanish imperial power: their
use for warfare industry and for minting coins. Besides that, the first stage of the conquest coincides with the
exhaustion of the rich mines in Bohemia, Hungary and Albania, and then the immigration of miners to Iberia
and later to America (de Oyuela, 2003).
The Spaniards never found the big sources of gold carried by the natives in Southern Central America. One
of those possible sources was the rich placer deposits in the Osa Peninsula, on the Pacific side of the isthmus
(Escalante and Soto, 2007). After Columbus visited to Panama in 1502, his brother Bartolomé founded the
town of Belén in Northern Veragua, and gold search was planned from there. In fact, from the alluvial deposits
and veins (in Margaja, see Figure 1) in this region, they were extracted over 9 tons of gold between 1559 and
1589. A decline in activities was due to high exploitation costs and the peril of piracy. After this, only artisanal
gold exploitation was carried out in the rivers near the coasts (Velarde and Gutiérrez, 2001).
On the other hand, in the Caribbean region of Costa Rica, the General Captain Juan Vázquez de Coronado
had been looking for gold and made the first call for a discovering in 1564 in La Estrella river (recorded in
the Sevilla archives; Fernández, 1913). It was a hoax, though, elaborated with the idea of recovering his huge
expenditures in conquering Costa Rica. But the myth created about the wealth of metals in Talamanca and
Tisingal ranges, has been aroused several times in the 19th century and even recently (Denyer and Soto, 1999).
90
Metal mining in Central America (early 1500s-late 1800s)
Figure 1. Map of Central America showing the most important metal deposits exploited during the 16th-19th
centuries, mentioned in the text.
The Spanish explorers in Honduras found the gold placers of Olancho in 1524, and then explored goldbearing lodes (Roberts and Irving, 1957). Some of these mines attracted the attention of the early settlers,
who established large population centers such as Tegucigalpa, the present capital of Honduras, which had
its beginning as a mining town. In fact, since the report of the oidor García de Palacios on the wealth of the
mines of Honduras, this province was only considered as “land of mines” and from 1539, many immigrants
were in search of gold and silver (de Oyuela, 2003). Then, the presence of alluvial gold in the river Guayape
in Honduras, which was discovered in 1542, is likely to have given rise to the first well organized exploitation
of minerals in Central America by the Spanish conquistadors. The mining epicenter located near the Guatemalan border shifted then to Guayape, and silver became another important product besides gold. There was
a high demand for labor that resulted in the decimation of the native population and the introduction of
African slavery in Honduras (as many as two thousand slaves by 1545; cf. Haggerty and Millet, 1995). Other
important discoveries were at Cerro de Guazucarán in 1569 and several others up to 1579, as San Marcos,
Agalteca, Santa Lucía and Apazapo (see Figure 1). Other gold deposits were found near San Pedro Sula and
the port of Trujillo (Taracena, 1998).
91
Gerardo J. Soto
By the late 1540s, Honduras seemed ready for prosperity due to the establishment in 1544 of the regional
Audiencia of Guatemala with its capital at Gracias a Dios, Honduras. Beginning in 1569, silver discoveries in
the interior revived the economy and led to the founding of Tegucigalpa, which rivaled Comayagua as the
most important town in the province of Honduras. The extensive mining activity in Honduras was evident
by the report of the Governor to the King Philip II in 1580, telling about the activities in 17 mines in the
“indian town called Tegucigalpa” (de Oyuela, 2003). Silver reached its highest production in 1584, and then
an economic depression returned, together with political and geographical limitations, making Honduras a
poor province by the beginning of the 17th century (cf. Haggerty and Millet, 1995; Taracena, 1998), in spite
of the foundation in 1601 of the first official institution dedicated to geologic and mining matters in Central
America, the Alcaldía Mayor de Minas de la Provincia de Honduras (Dengo, 1988).
There are reports of “gold washings” in Jocotenango, Guatemala, in mines belonging to Alonso de Zamora and Pedro de Alvarado, between 1575-76. The mines of Almengor (christened after his discoverer, don
Pedro de Almengor) in Chiantla produced silver by the late 16th century (Ministerio de Energía y Minas, 2004;
Álvarez, 2010), and there is a legend about its origin (Figueroa et al., 2005),
Mining ventures in Central America were carried out mostly by Amerindian slave labor (until the abolishment of their slavery in 1540), or by the figure of the “encomienda”, or later by African slave labor under the
supervision of European miners, making use of the primitive mining techniques that prevailed at that time.
Most mines worked by the Amerindians were in alluvial open pits, with the use of spherical kernels for gold
melting and recovery. The first Spaniards adopted the same techniques, and others imported from Peru (for
instance, the so-called “de la guaira”), where pre-Columbian mining activities were widely developed (cf. de
Oyuela, 2003).
4. Mining during the Colony (17th and 18th Centuries)
Mining activities in Central America during colonial times have been more widely studied. They are documented in the Archivo General de Indias in Sevilla, the archives in Guatemala and Tegucigalpa, and an annotated
catalogue concerning the Audiencia de Guatemala from 1529 to 1819 (Muñoz, 1970). Dengo (1988) also
summarized the most relevant aspects of mining and geology, as indicated in those documents. Most studies
concern Honduras -which was the most active province in mining-, as the work by Newson (1984 and references therein).
Probably, besides the techniques exposed in chapter 3, most metallurgical processes used in mining and
melting kernels during the times of colony, are due to Álvaro Alonso Barba (de Oyuela, 2003), whose empirical influence through his work in Peru (published as the book Art of metals in 1640) influenced the mining
labors in Central America.
The town of Comayagua in Honduras was the site of a gold rush in the mid 17th century, and the continuous search for minerals in Honduras led to the discovery in 1779 of the gold-silver mine of Cantarranas (aka
San Juancito or Rosario), which up to the present time, has been one of the most prolific mines in Central
America (Roberts and Irving, 1957; Escalante and Soto, 2007). Some scholars have calculated that total Honduran production of silver during colonial times reached 5% of the total produced by the Spanish Americas
(Newson, 1984), which makes for an important figure.
There is knowledge of gold and silver (and lesser other metals) production in Guatemala during the
Colony (Ministerio de Energía y Minas, 2004; Álvarez, 2010). For instance, the mines of Almengor continued
their production, Las Ánimas and Torlón (Pb), El Sastre (Au), Zunil (Hg), Barrenechea (Ag) and Baca (Au; see
92
Metal mining in Central America (early 1500s-late 1800s)
Figure 1). The Mataquescuintla Cu-Ag mine was worked on a small scale since 1694, and the Jesuits mined
oxidized ore for Ag until 1871 (Roberts and Irving, 1957). There are no many details about their exploitation
evolution, though. It seems that gold production was low and mainly used in the country for minting, jewelry
and sacred goods (Álvarez, 2010).
In Panama, the placer mines were loosely exploited along the 17th and 18th centuries, with exiguous
recuperation (Restrepo, 1885). The Espíritu Santo de Cana mine (in Darién, near the present border between
Panama and Colombia) was opened by the end of the 17th century, and considered one of the richest in the
Americas during the colonial times. In fact, it produced over a million ounces of gold during the colonial times
up to 1727. Over 200 workers mined it, but it stopped operations because a collapse. Several attempts were
performed to resume activities during the 19th century, until it reopened at the very beginning of the 20th
century (Restrepo, 1885; Velarde and Gutiérrez, 2001).
Not only gold and silver were exploited in Central America. There were also copper, lead and notably,
iron. The noticeable iron ore in Agalteca (see Figure 1), Honduras (formed into tactites and metamorphosed
shales: Roberts and Irving, 1957) was exploited between 1568 and 1863 (and lately as well) and it is said that
produced high quality iron (Valle, 1972). Other less known and not so rich iron deposits were located in the
Metapán, in the Guatemala-El Salvador border area (areas of contact metamorphism according to Roberts
and Irving, 1957), and were exploited in the 18th century, a recently unveiled fact (Fernández, 2005).
5. Independence times (19th Century)
The independence of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica occurred in September 15,
1821. Mining matters were, as all economic and political events, affected by this situation and its previous
circumstances, especially because the independent countries declared their own mining laws and decrees.
Also, the arrival of naturalists and geologists during the 1840s and 1850s, who dealt with a promising natural environment for discoveries, prompted geological research and mapping (Escalante and Soto, 2007;
Soto, 2010). Examples of the published works on the gold fields and silver mines, are those three authored
by William V. Wells (1856a, b; 1857; the first two actually unsigned, but unequivocally written by him) mainly
dealing with Honduran mines, which is a clear signal that most mining activities in Central America were
performed in that country by that time. Also the geological map and description of Guatemala and El Salvador
by Dollfus and de Montserrat (1868) imprinted a real wish for mineral exploration. Roberts and Irving (1957)
also argued that the discovery of gold in California would have renewed the interest in the Central American
gold deposits, since many of the miners travelling from eastern North America to California passed through
Central America, an later in the 1870s, the construction of railroads in several countries would have aided as
well to mining activities. It was the case, partly in Costa Rica, where the Keith brothers came to build a railroad
that connected San José to the Caribbean and contracted the American geologist William Gabb to explore for
gold and coal in the almost unexplored land of the Caribbean. Gabb did not find any gold or coal, but made
a geological map and was finally paid by the government. One of the Keith brothers (Minor) later invested in
the Abangares mines in the 1880s (Denyer and Soto, 1999).
Decadence in mining in Honduras started in the late 18th century, when Comayagua and Tegucigalpa
were in political problems and the costs of onerous legal procedures were paid by miners, which led to a
weakening in their investments by the early 19th century. Then, since the beginning of 19th century, the independence movements gained sympathy, and once independence occurred in 1821, some measures against
peninsular owners were taken. For example, in 1827 the Municipal Corporation of Tegucigalpa banned
93
Gerardo J. Soto
the existence of wide mining owners from Spain (patrones), and thus many of them fled to Spain and
abandoned many important mining centers (de Oyuela, 2003). Some mines passed to British or American
owners by mid 19th century and by the 1880s, parallel to some political decisions reinforcing the foreign
investments, jointly led to a resurgence of mining activities that had taken place in Honduras (like Rosario or
Cantarranas since 1882, and Yuscarán mines), with ups and downs. In that way, Rabchevsky (1995) states
that in the 1880s, Honduras received about 55% of its hard currency revenue from silver exports mined at
El Mochito mine, amount that decayed by early 1900s, when only represented <2% of GDP and <0.3% of
employment.
In eastern Guatemala, the silver veins of the Concepción district began to be mined by an English-French
company. Silver mines in the Alotepeque district were acquired by an English company in 1844, and seems
to have produced 20-40 million ounces of silver between 1847-67 (Roberts and Irving, 1957). The deposit
of Las Quebradas in Izabal, eastern Guatemala was studied in 1869, but important works were not relevant
until the 1920s (Alvarado, 2001). Also, the known mine of Mataquescuintla installed a bigger mill in 1885
and by 1887 produced 40,000 ounces of silver (Roberts and Irving, 1957). Changes in the mining law were
introduced in 1881 with the new Fiscal Code (Ministerio de Energía y Minas, 2004).
The gold-silver district of Jocoro-Divisadero (San Cristóbal) in eastern El Salvador was exploited mainly
between 1870 and 1950, but there are no reliable data on the gold-silver production during that period.
The San Sebastián mine in the mining district of Santa Rosa de Lima was considered one of the richest gold
producers in Central America, since its production between 1890 and 1920 reached about one million ounces
of gold with grades as high as 2 ounces per ton. It was probably worked since 1880, but there are no records
of production (Ticay, 2001). It is considered that metal mining had a minor contribution to the economy of
El Salvador, though, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when Charles Butters, the pioneer of cyanide
process for gold extraction, opened several gold mines (Power, 2008).
Mining started in Limón in Nicaragua (100 km north of Managua) in 1850. Since 1880, artisanal mining was the main economic activity in North Atlantic Autonomous Region. In 1880, a gold rush promoted
the colonization of the geographic center of that region. Gold exploitation started in higher dimensions in
Bonanza in 1880, when the gold deposits of the Pis-Pis region initiated. Gold mines were slowly opened in
the mountainous landscapes of the Mosquito area during the late 1890s, in the Siuna district. La Luz and Los
Ángeles were the major producers near Siuna. By 1894, president Zelaya made efforts to unite the Mosquito
region and its resources with the rest of Nicaragua, but it produced many political problems forth (Garbrecht,
1920; Gismondi and Mouat, 2002).
In Costa Rica, the productive findings of gold did not occur until the independence times. Bishop García, coming from his diocese in Granada, Nicaragua, to the province of Costa Rica in 1815, found some gold-rich rocks
in the way in Montes del Aguacate, which after some analyses turned out to be the site of the promising mine of
Sacra Familia, that was under exploitation from 1821 for several decades. By late 1824, the new Mint House of
Costa Rica was minting coins using gold from the Aguacate mines (Murillo, 2004). In 1830, the new “Ordinance
of Mining” in Costa Rica, which substituted the previous “Ordinance and Mining for the New Spain” from 1783
by the king Carlos III, gave an important push to mining activities. In that way, by 1835, seven mines were working
producing 2.5 million pesos and employing over 400 people (Fuentealba, 1977; Ulloa, 1979). A standstill between
1843 and 1890 affected the mines in Aguacate (Castillo, 1997), but the wealth produced there was invested in
the nascent coffee plantations. In 1884, the first gold veins in the Abangares district were discovered by Vicente
Acosta and his brothers and the first mine, called Tres Hermanos, was under operation by 1887 (Castillo, 1997),
triggering a new gold rush. This second stage of gold production in Costa Rica was later mainly taken by British
and American investments, that later promoted social problems in the area (cf. Castillo, 2009).
94
Metal mining in Central America (early 1500s-late 1800s)
There are numerous and ambiguous reports about gold findings and exploration-exploitation in Panama
during the 19th century (at that time, still part of Colombia; Restrepo, 1885), but it is uncertain how much gold
was actually exploited. On the other hand, the previously rich mine of Espíritu Santo de Cana was attempted
to be revived in the 1840s and 1870s, but it was not until 1887 that a British company invested in exploration trying to resume production, with no results (Restrepo, 1885). It produced again between 1900-1907
(Velarde and Gutiérrez, 2001).
6. Social and economic benefits
The late Mario Benedetti (1999) wrote the haiku “fiebre de oro / y en las calles y campos / barro y mendigos
[gold rush / and on the streets and fields / mud and beggars]. That has been the general impression about
mining in Latin America: profits for a few, poverty for many. Unfortunately, the history of mining in Central
America between 16th and 19th centuries tells us so. Mining contributed little to the well being of these
countries which were required to contribute most of this wealth for the use of the Spanish Crown. After
all, for the colonial period, few data are available on actual production for all those productive mines here
accounted (Roberts and Irving, 1957). Reliable data are available for the late 19th century, for when these
authors consider that for the 1860s, the total production would have averaged about $600,000 a year.
Mining activities were most of the time technologically behind and the recovery was probably low. Most
owners did not take care for new techniques or further future developments. They were eager to obtain the
highest profits in the shortest time. Most owners were from direct Spanish ascendency, and then near the
political power. Therefore, it was not surprising than in the province of Honduras –which was the most mining developed country in Central America between 16th and 19th centuries-, most Mayors were chosen and
deposed by the mine owners. It was common as well, that miners were prone to smuggling metals to other
destinies with higher profits than sending to the Spanish empire. Other smuggling businesses, parallel to
metal exports were also common.
In Costa Rica, the mining development since the 1820s made an important contribution to launch the
economy of a poor country, recently independent. An important amount of gold produced there was used for
minting and then was important for financing the new coffee plantations that allowed new exports to Europe
and the obtainment of fresh capitals. But anyway, the big profits were restricted to a few families.
7. Geological research and other remarks
The geological features presented in the first chapter were not known at the time here accounted, since geological studies and maps in Central America started in the mid 19th century and were not of real use for exploration until the late 19th century (Soto, 2010). At the very end of the 19th century, the international geological
community was starting to systematize studies addressed to understand the genesis of the mineral deposits,
and it was not until 1905 that Louis de Launay proposed the term “metallogeny” (Puche et al, 2008). That is
why the most important developments in mining in Central America, mainly using the tools of geology, had to
wait until the 20th century. In fact, a real geologic framework attempting to understand the regional features
of the deposits in Central America had to wait until the work of Roberts and Irving (1957).
Of course, up to the beginning of 20th century, the anthropocentric concept of natural resources use
was to exploit them until the last gram. It was not until recently that the concepts of sustainable develop-
95
Gerardo J. Soto
ment, environmental friendliness, environment responsibility and mining rehabilitation and social responsibility guidelines for mining companies, have been coined and actually put in work. Despite that there are no
comprehensive studies or approximations about the environmental effects of mining during the 16th-19th
centuries, since there were no huge developments (small-scale production, primitive methods, low recovery),
probably most effects have been overcome.
There is no doubt that Central America has had a mining tradition since pre-Columbian times. The facts
of mining operations in Central America and the whole social, economical and environmental effects and
relationships that operated in the 16th-19th centuries, did not work very well for a positive opinion of this
industry. It seems, though, that without mining, the Central American society wouldn’t have developed as
it did, especially after its independence from Spain. If we learnt the lesson from past (as geologists usually
do) it could be possible to develop mining projects minimizing impacts and looking for benefits for a wider
social spectrum.
Acknowledgements
This work has been possible thanks to the support by University of Costa Rica through the CONARE’s
project 113-A9-509. Sergio Rivera and Carl Nelson are is acknowledged for reviewing the manuscript and
their helpful suggestions. Rafael Chavarría made accurate suggestions on an earlier draft. Alberto Vargas
contributed with the DEM for Figure 1.
References
Alvarado, C.H., 2001. La minería del oro en Guatemala. In: Espí, J.A. (Ed.), El Libro de la Minería del Oro en Iberoamérica.
Red XIII-B, CYTED, Madrid, 303-310.
Álvarez, M., 2010. Oro. El espíritu de la conquista y la colonia. Boletín de los Museos, 2 (1), 9-12.
Benedetti, M. 1999. Rincón de haikus. Alfaguara, México, 239 pp.
Castillo, A. 2009. La guerra del oro. Tierra y minería en Abangares 1890-1930. Editorial Universidad de Costa Rica, San
José, 290 pp.
Castillo, R. 1997. Recursos minerales de Costa Rica. Génesis, distribución y potencial. Editorial Universidad de Costa Rica,
San José, 220 pp.
Columbus, H. 1571. Historia del Almirante. Ediciones Océano (1988 edition), Barcelona, 404 pp.
de Oyuela, L. 2003. Esplendor y miseria de la minería en Honduras. Editorial Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, 323 pp.
Dengo, G. 1988. Historia del desarrollo del conocimiento geológico de América Central. Anales de la Academia de Geografía e Historia de Guatemala, 62, 153-190.
Denyer, P. and Soto, G.J. 1999. Contribución pionera de William M. Gabb a la geología y cartografía de Costa Rica. Anuario
de Estudios Centroamericanos, 25 (2), 103-138.
Dollfus, A. and de Montserrat, E. 1868. Voyage géologique dans les républiques de Guatemala et de El Salvador. Mission
Scientifique en Méxique et dans l´Amérique Centrale. Imprimerie Impériale, Paris, 539 pp.
Escalante, G. and Soto, G.J. 2007. History of Geology. ­In: Bundschuh, J. and Alvarado, G.E. (eds.), Central America: Geology, Resources and Hazards. Taylor and Francis, London, 53-74.
Fernández, J.A. 2005. Mercado, empresarios y trabajo. La siderurgia en el Reino de Guatemala. Biblioteca de Historia
Salvadoreña, 18, 1-198.
Fernández, R. 1913. History of the Discovery and Conquest of Costa Rica. Thomas Y. Crowell Company Publishers, New
York, 416 pp.
96
Metal mining in Central America (early 1500s-late 1800s)
Figueroa, Y.E., Alonso, C.L. and Herrera, A.A. 2005. Tradición oral de la villa de Chiantla. Helvetas Guatemala, Guatemala,
55 pp.
Fuentealba, N. 1977. El derecho minero en Costa Rica. Editorial Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, 169 pp.
Garbrecht, L. 1920. New Mining Fields in Eastern Nicaragua. Engineering & Mining Journal, 109, 793.
Gismondi, M. and Mouat, J. 2002. Merchants, Mining, and Concessions on Nicaragua’s Mosquito Coast: Reassessing the
American Presence, 1893-1912. Journal of Latin American Studies, 34 (4), 845-879.
Haggerty, R. and Millet, R., 1995. Historical Setting. In: Merril, T. (ed.), A Country Study: Honduras. Library of Congress
Federal Research Division, Washington D.C., 1-61.
Mann, P., Rogers, R. and Gahagan, L., 2007. Overview of plate tectonic history and its unresolved tectonic problems. ­In:
Bundschuh, J. and Alvarado, G.E. (Eds), Central America: Geology, Resources and Hazards. Taylor and Francis, London,
201-237.
Martino, O. 1988. Mineral Industries of Latin America. U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, U.S. Government
Printing Office, Washington D.C., 89 pp.
Meléndez, J.C. 2010. Orfebrería prehispánica en Guatemala. Boletín de los Museos, 2 (1), 3-8.
Ministerio de Energía y Minas, 2004. Caracterización de la minería en Guatemala. Primer Foro Nacional de la Minería en
Guatemala. Guatemala, 30 pp.
Muñoz, J. 1970. Documentos existentes en el Archivo General de Indias, sección de Guatemala: La Minería Hispana e
Iberoamericana. Estudios, Fuentes, Bibliografía. v. VI, León, Spain, 303 pp.
Murillo, J. 2004. Historia de las monedas de Costa Rica. Editorial Universidad Estatal a Distancia, San José, 236 pp.
Nelson, C. 2007. Metallic mineral resources. I­n: Bundschuh, J. and Alvarado, G.E. (eds.), Central America: Geology, Resources and Hazards. Taylor and Francis, London, 931-961.
Newson, L.A. 1984. Silver mining in colonial Honduras. Revista de Historia de América ,97, 45-76.
Oliveira e Costa, J.P. 1993. Portugal and the Japan. The Namban Century. Portuguese State Mint, Lisbon, 108 pp.
Power, T.M. 2008. Metals mining and sustainable development in Central America. Oxfam America, Boston, 35 pp.
Puche, O., Mazadiego, L.F. and Kindelán, P. 2008. The VIII International Geological Congress, Paris 1900. Episodes, 31
(3), 336-343.
Rabchevsky, G.A. 1995. The mineral industry of Honduras. In: USGS (ed.), 1994 Minerals yearbook, Vol. III, area reports:
International. United States Geological Survey, 359-362.
Restrepo, V. 1885. Estudio sobre las minas de oro y plata de Colombia. Banco de la República (4th edition of 1952),
Bogotá, 295 pp.
Roberts, R.J. and Irving, E.M. 1957. Mineral Deposits of Central America. ``United States Geological Survey Bulletin, 1034,
1-204.
Soto, G.J. 2010. El mapeo geológico y vulcanológico en América Central hasta el inicio de la Segunda Guerra Mundial.
In: Lértora, C.A. (ed.), Geonaturalia, Geografía e Historia Natural: hacia una historia comparada, Estudio a través de
Argentina, México, Costa Rica y Paraguay. Ediciones FEPAI, Buenos Aires, 263-287.
Taracena, L.P. 1998. Ilusión minera y poder político. La Alcaldía Mayor de Tegucigalpa Siglo XVIII. Editorial Guaymuras,
Tegucigalpa, 357 pp.
Ticay, S.A. 2001. La Minería del Oro en El Salvador. In: Espí, J.A. (ed.), El Libro de la Minería del Oro en Iberoamérica. Red
XIII-B, CYTED, Madrid, 285-292.
Ulloa, F. 1979. Historia minera en Costa Rica. Dirección de Geología, Minas y Petróleo, San José, 50 pp.
Valle, R.H. 1972. Minas de plata de Tegucigalpa. Revista del Archivo y Biblioteca Nacionales de Honduras, 11, 41-56.
Velarde, M.P.T. and Gutiérrez, E. 2001. La minería del oro en Panamá. In: Espí, J.A. (Ed.), El Libro de la Minería del Oro en
Iberoamérica. Red XIII-B, CYTED, Madrid, 335-340.
Wells, W.V. 1856a. Adventures in the Gold Fields of Central America. Harper´s New Monthly Magazine, XII, 315-336.
Wells, W.V. 1856b. A Visit to the Silver Mines of Central America. Harper´s New Monthly Magazine, XII, 721-733.
Wells, W.V. 1857. Explorations and Adventures in Honduras. Harper and Brothers, New York, 588 pp.
97