History of Mining and Industry

This paper examines the relationship between the design and use of mechanical technology, patronage and investment, and economic return, using three main case studies: water-lifting devices, the water-powered grain mill, and the diverse uses of water-power in mining. Water-power was used on a wide scale and in diversified forms at an early date (by the first century A.D.), and the use of mechanical technology to perform economically critical work had an important impact on economic performance and the potential for per capita growth, especially in the latter centuries B.C. and the first two centuries A.D. Conversely, in the third century A.D. the cessation of the employment of hydraulic mining techniques enabling large-scale extraction of gold and other metals may have had an adverse impact on the economy as a whole. Growth and progress do not necessarily follow a linear pattern of advance; technologies are lost as well as adopted.

Resumen | El presente artículo analiza los programas y acciones que desarrollaron las empresas asociadas a la gran industria chilena para mejorar la condición nutricional de la población trabajadora, con el objetivo de enfrentar las enfermedades profesionales y mejorar los rendimientos productivos de los trabajadores. Es de especial interés conocer el papel que tuvo la familia y la mujer en su calidad de madre y esposa para transmitir los valores asociados a la correcta alimentación. Las fuentes disponibles para el estudio son los escritos de médicos que abordaron la temática de la alimentación, en especial en el ámbito laboral, las encuestas de nutrición desarrolladas entre fines de la década de 1920 y comienzos de los años de 1940, y las publicaciones de los Departamentos de Bienestar Social de las distintas empresas estudiadas.

Abstract | This article analyzes the programs and actions developed by large-scale industrial plants to improve the nutritional conditions of the working class, with the aim of tackling occupational diseases and improving the productive performance of workers. Special interest is taken on knowing the role played by the family and women in their role as mothers and wives in transmitting the values associated with proper nutrition. The sources available for the study are the writings of physicians who addressed the issue of nutrition, especially in the workplace, the nutrition surveys developed between the late
1920s and the early 1940s, and the publications of the Social Welfare Departments of the different companies studied.

Resumo | Este artigo analisa os programas e ações desenvolvidos pelas empresas associadas à grande indústria chilena para melhorar o estado nutricional da população trabalhadora, com o objetivo de combater as doenças ocupacionais e melhorar o desempenho produtivo dos trabalhadores. Interesse especial é saber o papel desempenhado pela família e pela mulher como mãe e esposa para transmitir os valores associados à nutrição adequada. As fontes disponíveis para o estudo são os escritos de médicos que abordaram a questão da
nutrição, especialmente no local de trabalho, as pesquisas de nutrição desenvolvidas entre o final da década de 1920 e início dos anos 1940, e as publicações dos Departamentos de Assistência Social das diferentes empresas estudadas.

This paper analyses economic interaction in Castilla del Oro (Panama) at the beginning of the 16 th century. By applying network analysis to fiscal records, the paper reconstructs, represents and tests business networks in the mining sector and how they became more complex with the arrival of emigrants and the appearance of new gold deposits. Results show a dynamic population with a high mobility degree despite the adverse geography and the inexistent communications.

Estudio comprensivo de la producción industrial en Lima colonial. Establece que, al lado de numerosos pequeños talleres artesanales había grandes talleres manufactureros y una gran producción domiciliaria organizada por grandes productores y comerciantes que, inclusive, intentaron establecer una fábrica textil moderna a inicios del siglo XIX. El trabajo establece también los regímenes laborales libres y esclavos en la ciudad colonial

La minería del carbón y sus ritmos de actividad han desempeñado, desde sus orígenes hace casi un siglo, un papel fundamental en la estructuración y evolución regional del centro-este y noreste del estado de Coahuila. Su dependencia de la minería, en ausencia de otras actividades económicas que constituyan alternativas reales de desarrollo, han convertido a esta región en un espacio geográfico sumamente vulnerable y de economía frágil, como se ha hecho evidente en los momentos críticos de su historia económica reciente. El objetivo de este trabajo es brindar una visión global preliminar de los antecedentes históricos de la minería carbonífera de Coahuila, y de los principales cambios experimentados por ella y sus repercusiones geográficas, en el marco de las políticas económicas neoliberales de los últimos años

Cerro Muriano is a small population centre situated 16 km to the north of the city of Córdoba, between the municipalities of Córdoba and Obejo (Andalusia, Spain). This territory is situated over a large field of copper veins, which has been exploited by the different peoples and societies that have populated Córdoba’s mountain range Sierra Morena. The mining and metallurgy of this red metal have been used to track the evolution of this site over time. This has produced much archaeological evidence, ranging from the Copper Age to the 20th century. Thanks to its originality and its well-preserved state –and also the commitment of Fernando Penco Valenzuela, the director of the Museo del Cobre (Copper Museum) located there– this particular piece of mining history enjoys legal protection today.
From 1897 to 1919, the mines of Cerro Muriano were worked –with the new technologies brought by industrialisation– by four different, but closely related, English companies: Cordova Exploration Co, Ltd. (1897- 1908), Cerro Muriano Mines, Ltd. (1903-1908), North Cero Muriano Copper Mines, Ltd. (1906-1908) and Cordoba Copper Co., Ltd. (1908-1923). The first of these was from the Newcastle area, and the rest were from London. These companies developed the mines using nine main extraction shafts: Calavera, San Lorenzo, Unión, Excelsior, Santa Victoria, San Rafael, Levante, San Arturo and Santa Isabel; some of these remain while others do not. The separation between the northernmost (Calavera) and the southernmost (San Isabel) shafts is around 2,025m. The distance between the eastern (Unión) and western (San Arturo) extremes is approximately 2,275m. In this territory, the four cited companies generated a complete mining settlement, composed of the above extraction points; a plant of considerable dimensions for washing and concentrating the minerals, calcining them, smelting them, and finally converting the matte into blister copper; and a populated complex of various neighbourhoods composed of houses, shacks and barracks. In addition, there was other infrastructure required to sustain a society (e.g., a school, canteen, theatre, church, hospital, etc.), buildings for work (e.g., offices and a laboratory), and other spaces for production, storage, and distribution.
Communication with the exterior took place through three principal routes demarcating a clear north-south axis: the old road from Córdoba to Almadén (N-432a), the Cañada Real Soriana droveway, and the rail line between Córdoba, Belmez and Almorchón. Along with these routes, there was a dense network of paths and narrow gauge railways throughout the area. It was specifically the train that connected the city of Córdoba with the coal-mining area of Peñarroya-Belmez-Espiel (in the north of the province) that permitted the English to set up their business in a mountainous location that was thus completely dependent on the railway.
At the end of the 19th century, the train did not stop at Cerro Muriano. In fact, there was nothing to motivate the construction of a train station there: neither a consolidated population nor any important economic activity. Thus, one of the primary objectives of the initial English capital investment was to bring the rail line to its properties. Therefore, mining and railways marked the origin of Cerro Muriano as we know it today.
Finally, this study case of Cerro Muriano during the English period found that it was a faithful reflection of its time. Spanish mining in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was heavily influenced by the involvement of foreign companies. This should not be seen as a distinctive feature of Spain as a whole, but rather as the result of an international situation in which mining underwent a kind of premature globalisation. In view of the foregoing, it may be argued that the British Cerro Muriano was a standard product. In it, we can discern many of the features typical of the international expansion and industrialisation of mining and metallurgy operations: the key introduction of new technology in the exploitation of the mine, the fundamental importance of the railway –even though in Cerro Muriano the line already existed, and was not purpose-built to serve English interests–, the eclectic nature of the whole in terms of the technology employed (particularly American in metallurgy, British and German in mining), and the creation of a mining village, in the town- planning and social senses.
In short, Cerro Muriano is a good example of economically-colonialist mining activity that seems to show that the highly topical subject of globalization is not a new phenomenon, since the evolution of technology and the spread use of the same machines on an international scale –among other circumstances– facilitated the homogenization of the world we inhabit today.

The cultural context generated by the mining industry works as an unifying force among mining enclaves, as well as an element of distinction in relation with the surrounding territories. The mining culture, set up as the common answer to the circumstances provided by the mine, is thereby a hallmark for the mining communities. Several agents participated in the formation of this identity system, such as the working conditions, the relation with the Death, the sense of class, the progress, the economic colonialism or the labour movement. This paper aims to track the role played by these and others elements in the construction of a specific social group: the contemporary mining people from the South of the Iberian Peninsula, as the result of hybridism between globalization and endemism. In doing so, we combine archaeological and anthropological methods on a wide range of sources of information: material culture, oral memory, written/visual historical documents and touristic guides and brochures.

El objetivo de este trabajo es contribuir a los esfuerzos por comprender la situación de la minería en el Perú, no solo la actual sino también la del pasado. Esta investigación representa un esfuerzo de largo aliento que comprende la compilación y revisión de la literatura publicada sobre la minería en el Perú en las últimas cinco décadas. Con ello, este trabajo buscar identificar los principales hallazgos, lecciones y brechas de la literatura, así como proponer una agenda de investigación con la esperanza de servir como referencia para investigadores y estudiantes de ciencias sociales –y posiblemente de otras áreas disciplinarias–, así como de insumo para mejores políticas públicas.

The Black Mountain Arsenic Mine Historic Landscape District meets the criteria of eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (National Register) at the local level of significance for its direct associations with an important phase of regional mining in a rural landscape context, and for its design significance as a largely intact example of arsenic mining technology. The rural landscape district meets National Register Criterion A for its association with regional patterns of mineral exploitation typical of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, and with the unique history of arsenic mining. It is also eligible under Criterion C for its largely intact representation of the unique technology of arsenic extraction. Overall, the landscape district retains good integrity of location, setting, design, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. The period of significance is 1923-1927. Articles of incorporation for the Black Mountain Arsenic Mining Company were filed in 1923. The period of active exploration, construction, mining, and processing ended in 1927, when accidental damage forced its closure.

Hedges/Tumco Historic Townsite is an abandoned gold mining town, located in a desert valley in the Cargo Muchacho Mountains, Imperial County, California. It has previously been designated California Historic Landmark No. 182, and has been recorded as site 4-Imp-3297-H; additional site numbers used for features at the site are 4-Imp-3298-H, -3200-H, - 3301-H, and-3302-H. Visible remains at the site include residential areas, two cemeteries, a commercial district, and a company district, closely associated with many mining-related features, including open pits and many shafts at the east end of the town in the valley head. The site covers about 260 acres. The project described in this report undertook archival research, aerial photography, oral histories, and limited test excavations, to derive a National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) eligibility assessment for the Hedges/Tumco Historic Townsite (Hedges-Tumco) located in lower Tumco Wash. Excavation of 100 test units (29.5 m1), limited surface collection, and scale drawing of selected structures, was used to sample more than 55 features and feature complexes. More than 2,500 catalogue entries of artifacts represented domestic, commer- cial, structural, and industrial items. Recovery of datable artifacts, fragile but well-preserved materials, and faunal and botanical remains, attests to a strong potential for research on technology, consumer patterns, and ethnic differences. Complementary information was yielded by abundant archival records. Historic photographs document the nature and location of the schoolhouse, Catholic church, company boarding house hospital, several saloons, and other specific buildings. Remains of mining and milling include three major mines and associated buildings, 10-stamp, 40-stamp, and 100-stamp mill remains, and a cyanide treatment plant. Based on these data, Hedges/Tumco is recommended eligible at the local and statewide levels for the NRHP, as per 36 CFR 800 60.4, Criteria (a), (c), and (d). The Hedges/Tumco Historic Townsite meets the 11 guidelines of National Register of Historic Places Bulletin 36, has an easily definable boundary ( excluding ubiquitous traces of mining peripheral to the site), and possesses sufficient integrity to support a recommendation of NRHP eligibility. Equally important is the demonstrated potential of Hedges/Tumco to yield additional information important in history (36 CFR 60.4).

This paper represents a synthesis of the research and patrimonialisa-tion work carried out on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the foundation of the National Mining Office for Hydrocarbons and Georesources (UNMIG) dating back to 1957. In particular, it is highlighted the institutional and technological evolution and the role of mining cartography in the development of Italian mining policies on land and at sea. Initially related to non-energy raw materials and curated by the Geological Service since 1867, the Italian mining cartography has then developed, with the birth of the UNMIG, in reference to the exploration and production of hydrocarbons and geothermal resources. The result is a thematic geo-economic cartography, with strong territorial and political knowledge. Furthermore, thanks to the digitization and the open data ante litteram approach of the UNMIG, it represents a fundamental knowledge for the geostrategic, productive and scientific decision making processes in Italy. Moreover, it is important for the territorial and maritime spatial planning and the knowledge of the static and dynamic geological phenomena. Parole chiave

La medición de minas o geometría subterránea era una disciplina importante en Nueva España. Era necesaria para determinar los linderos de las propiedades de explotación
mineral y para una mejor planeación de los tiros y socavones que se entrelazaban a lo largo de una veta, ya que si se construían sin orden echaba a perder la rentabilidad de
las labores. En un principio el gremio de agrimensores se ocupó de estas labores. Tras la fundación del Colegio de Minería en 1792, los alumnos fueron instruidos en estas técnicas de medición. En el Acervo Histórico del Palacio de Minería se encontró el manuscrito anónimo de uno de los textos usados posiblemente con este fin. El presente trabajo ofrece un recuento breve de su contenido, el posible autor de la obra y un
panorama general de la enseñanza de la matemática en el Colegio.

en Lucero Morelos y Rodrigo Vega y Ortega (coord.), Estudios históricos sobre la cultura mexicana en los siglos XIX y XX, México, Historiadores de las Ciencias y las Humanidades, A. C., 2014, pp. 17-44. ISBN: 978-607-9236-02-1. [Dictamen externo].

Toda una constante tradición historiográfica sostuvo durante tiempo y con firmeza que la siderurgia vasca había introducido el empleo de la energía hidráulica en el proceso metalúrgico en pleno siglo XVI, con considerable retraso, nada menos que de tres a cuatro siglos, respecto a la siderometalurgia europea. Es cierto que a esta versión historiográfica no le faltaban bases y pruebas argumentales. La incorrecta interpretación de estos testimonios y las deficiencias informativas que investigaciones recientes han evidenciado señalan, sin embargo, la necesidad de revisar la versión tradicional sobre el tema, que es lo que se pretende en este trabajo.

In 1952, within CNR (National Research Council), National Committee for Nuclear Research (CNRN) was founded in Italy, with the main purpose of acquiring and developing knowledge about peaceful applications of nuclear energy. In 1960, CNRN became a public self-governing institution, separated from CNR and changing the name into CNEN (National Committee for Nuclear Energy). During the first period of establishment, CNEN policy choices undoubtedly reflected optimism and triumphalism followed by the first United Nations Conference on peaceful use of nuclear power, held in Geneva in 1955. The huge interest towards different nuclear applications was certainly driven by strategic needs related to industrial and economic development of industrialized countries. At the beginning of the “industrial atomic age”, nuclear industry was surely an instrument of technological “transfer” and innovation; it didn’t represent an alternative to fossil fuels. Mining explorations were among the earlier activities undertaken in the CNRN foundation, mainly since 1961. A regional scale geochemical prospecting reconnaissance for uranium in several alpine regions and in different part of Central-Southern Italy was realized. These explorations represented undoubtedly an effort to manage an energy policy not entirely dependent on the international context and raw materials imports. Considering this historical outlook, the paper will try to trace the initial stages of uranium policy and studies in Italy. An interest that led to open a university teaching in “Geology of Uranium” at the Polytechnic School of Milan and to establish a scientific and technical discipline with its own handbooks,reviews and popular publications.