MINING IN MEXICO — The rich history of the mines of Real de

The mines of “El Real de Minas de Nuestra Senora de la Limpia Concepcion de Guadalupe de los Alamos de Catorce,” in the state of San Luis Potosi, were discovered in 1772 and, until they went out of business about the time of the Mexican revolution of 1910, produced more than $500 million in gold and silver.

That total is $100 million more than the famous Comstock Lode of Virginia City, Nev., and yet, few people have even heard of Real de Catorce. Mining on a small scale began shortly after the initial discovery, but the first claims were not registered until August, 1778, when Capitan Bernabe Antonio de Zepeda registered his.

It was common then to work remote claims without registering them to avoid the “quinta parte,” the one-fifth of production due the Spanish Crown. News of the early “bonanzas” spread rapidly through the mining communities of Mexico and a flood of prospectors came, causing a tremendous increase in the number of claims around Real de Catorce.

By the end of 1779, more than 100 mines were being explored or were producing and at least 30 of them were in bonanza. The following year there were more than 300 mines.

As often happens in new mining districts, following the initial free-lancing entrepreneurship of the first wave of prospectors, men with mining knowledge and capital began to acquire the properties and explore and exploit them in a businesslike fashion.

By 1804, Baron Alexander Von Humboldt was able to write that “the mines of Catorce today occupy the second or third place among the mines of New Spain if they are classified by the amount of silver they produce…” (Political Essays on New Spain)

Beginning in 1810, anarchy reigned in Mexico for nearly 60 years and the mines of Catorce suffered. The War of Independence was followed in 1821 by frequent army revolts and the rebel units were in the habit of extracting tribute from the mines to support their uprisings.

The Texas revolution in 1836, the war with the U.S. in 1848, the War of Reform that brought Benito Juarez to the presidency in 1858 and the French intervention from 1860 to 1866 all made it difficult to operate the mines profitably.

Another problem was that the owners of the mines used a form of contract mining in which a group of miners was given a section of the mine to work with little or no direction. These miners were called gambusinos and, although the system minimized supervision and costs, it also shortened the life of a mine because no exploration or development was done. The gambusinos worked as long as there was ore in sight and when the ore disappeared so did the gambusinos who went off to find other rich veins. This system of mining is still common in the smaller mines in Mexico. The mines of Catorce had been easy to work for the first 300 meters of depth. The veins were rich, the rock was easily broken and there was no water to hinder the work. By 1830, the easily exploited ores were gone and no exploration had been done to find new ore. The inflow of water increased with deepening and the political uncertainty of the times precluded new investment. Following the overthrow of Maximillian in 1866, Catorce enjoyed a resurgence not experienced since before 1810. Companies were formed which were well financed and staffed by men who made mining a profession rather than an adventure.

Exploration and development preceded mining so that sufficient reserves were ensured. Machinery was installed to mine and move the ore, and pumps were bought to handle the water inflow. Bigger and more efficient beneficiation plants were built to recover the gold and silver, and long tunnels were driven to dewater the mines and to facilitate hauling to the treatment areas. One of these, Ogarrio’s Tunnel, is still used today by tourists visiting the town.

By 1875, Real de Catorce was a city with a population of 40,000, with an opera house, newspapers, shops with imported goods, a government mint, 16 km of railroad, and buildings up to three storeys high built of rock (many of which are still in good condition).

After surviving the war of independence, the war with Texas, the war with the U.S., the period of army anarchy, the French occupation, countless bad governments, bad management and frequent periods of low silver prices, Real de Catorce was done in by the revolution of 1910 and the sulphide zone, which caused the end of the mines and the decay of the town.

Real de Catorce, once a grand city, is today a ghost town with fewer than 400 inhabitants and no operating mines.

— The writer is a partner with Encinas y Gerling, a mining consulting firm with offices in Durango, Mexico.