VenezuelaVenezuela
Mining
The first mining attempts that were made in Venezuela were
developed in the mountains close to the towns of El Tocuyo, Coro
and Barquisimeto. Gold ornaments and gold powder, wore by the
coastal villagers supported the existence of gold mines nearby. In
1551 the "Real Mina de Oro de San Felipe de Buria" was
established. This led to the foundation of the city of "Nueva
Segovia de Barquisimeto". These mines were soon abandoned
(Humboldt 1816). Nearby, close to the town of "San Felipe El
Fuetre". "Aroa" copper mines were established, they were the mayor
mining activity in Venezuela, up to the beginning of this century
when they were abandoned.
Later on, around 1560, new mines were dug in the area of Caracas
and the nearby town of Los Teques. The Spanish conqueror Francisco
Jajardo recalls the existence of gold pebbles in the hands if
Indians in the area and Pedro Martyr emphasizes that gold and
pearls were used by some tribes as a mean of trade (Humboldt
1816). Towards the end of the XVI century several mines had been
begun and abandoned all around the area.
Towards the XVII century some other mines were dug in the area of
Caracas, the new mines of Baruta, the mines of quebrada de Tipe
and Quebrada de Tacoa (both small rivers that go down towards La
Guaira) and in the Avila mountain, facing towards La Guaira.
Many eforts were made during the end of the XVII century by
governor Don José Avalo to discover important mining sites,
he even brought some mining engineers from Mexico to exploit the
mining potential of Venezuela; but he was not able to accomplish
much.
Nowadays Venezuela is a mining country and the "Black Gold" has
turned out to be its biggest source of income. Some other minerals
are also exploited in big quantities. Iron, Bauxite, Coal and even
Gold are exploited in big quantities, but almost all of the mines
are open cast. Deep mining is barely used today in our country,
only near the city of Barcelona, where deep mining is used in
order to exploit coal.
Aroa mines are of historical importance. Around the XVI century
there was information about the existence of gold in the rivers
Yaracuy, Santa Cruz and Aroa. During the year 1605 the precise
location of the mines was exactly known. They are located in a
small valley, lateral to the aroa river, next to what is called La
Quebrada de Las Minas. In 1632 gold was first mined following some
gold veins, that lead to the discovery of some extensive copper
deposits. Towards the end of the century, sopper was exploited
with the name "Cobre Caracas", and the mines became property of
Simon Bolivar's Family. Bolivar himself used part of the income to
pay for the expenses of the war. The largest of aroa mines (La
Vizcaina) emploited from 60 to 70 slaves.
After the war of Independence Aroa mines were exploited
sporadically untill 1936. At that time 6 differentiated mines were
in operation. Aroa, also called Aroa Norte, Titiara, Titiara
Norte, San Antonio, Zajón Verde 1 and 2. The longest of all
the mines was Titiara Norte measuring 2100 m and the highest depth
was Pozo Holman, in Aroa Norte mine, with 95 m. Today, mines are
abandoned and partially flooded.
Tunnels and wells, colonial fortifications
During the XVI century, occupation of the territories was the main
concern, that is why the fortificiations built in this period were
simple and short lasting. It;s intention was to protect against
Indian attacks. No example is left from this period of time.
During the XVII century Francem England and the Netherlands fought
over the Spanish possessions. They conquered islands, attempted
continental innovations, sponsored penetration exploration,
pirates and smuggle with the colonies. All of that developed the
need for protections. The salt-bearing grounds of Araya needed
protection, and the most important fortification that Venezuela
ever had was built "El Castillo de Araya". Sponsored by the local
governors, some other fortifications were also built in this sense
we can talk about the first defences for the port of La Cuaira,
San Carlos Castle in Maracaibo Lake, Santa Rosa and San Carlos
Castles in Margarita Island, Santa Maria de la Cabeza and San
Antonio castles in Cumana and San Francisco castle in Guayana,
next to the Orinoco river.
DUring the XVIII century piracy is stopped, but Spain and England
are fighting for the Caribbeab. On the other hand, Guipuzcoana
trading company has some really important investments within the
country. This established the need for further protection and the
following castles were built at that time. San Carlos in La
Guaira, San Felipe in Puerto Cabello and the fortification of both
cities.
One very important questions still pending. What have all these
fortifications to do with artificial cavities? The answer is
simple: Almost all of the defensive constructions were located in
hard to acces locations and had to be prepared to withstand pirate
attacks. This meant the need for a well fed army, meaning the need
for an abundant supply of fresh water. Water was hard to access,
so big well and water deposits had to be built. This is the reason
why underground of almost every castle we found big artificial
cavities, constructed in order to preserve the precious fluid. On
the other hand tunnels were needed te access the different levels
and to communicate with the outside, storage spaces were needed
and trenches to protect from the artillery were also a
priority.
Some other artificial cavities
All around the country you may find many small mines, dug in order
to try to find gold by the governors of almost all the provinces.
In the state of Bolivar there are some big mines that were
exploited from the end of the XIX century to our days, these are
the mines of El Cayao. El Cayao mines are hundreds of small
cavities dug in the mountain layers in search of gold.
Besides the mines and the water reservoirs, the other artificial
cavities that you can find in Venezuela are the old tunnels from
the old Venezuelan Rail Roads. Most of these tunnels are only a
few meters ling, but there are plenty of them all around the
country.
Other tunnels that are said to exist are secret passages between
the old government edifications. For example there is said to
exist a passage from El Castillo de San Antonio in Cumana to the
house of the governor and to El Castillo de Santa Maria de La
Cabeza, both in the same city, but nothing has been made to
confirm this tale.
Actual research
The work that has been made concerning artificial cavities in
Venezuela is really small. There is a good study about the mines
around Caracas, tha has been made mainly by Sociedad Venezolana de
Espeleología with some help from Centro de Exploraciones
Espeleológicas de la Universidad Simón Bolivar.
Besides this work no further speleological research has been
achieved.
Closing Thoughts
As we could see through the development of this work, during
Venezuelan colonial times many artificial cavities were built.
Most of these cavities were small mines built in order to extract
some of the richness the underground had to offer. People didn't
stop to think that the richness of a mine could not be measured by
the existence of big quatities of minerals disseminated through
the ground, but instead by the existence of perhaps smaller
quatities of mineral concentrated in one place.
Venezuela has a climate that is excellent for agriculture, here
you can plant at a same time, the most fragile vegetables from the
remperate regions or the most harsh vegetables from the tropical
climates. But agriculture has always been a hard job. Mining
seemed an easier and pobably more rewarding occupation.
Today Venezuela is a mining country, but minerals exploied today
are very different from those exploited in the past. The old mines
were never profitable, but they did someting for us. There are
many mines, many tunnels, many passages, waiting to be found and
to be explored. There is a lot of work for someone interested in
exploring the artificial cavities of Venezuela.
Appendix
We will now introduce some maps from caves in the area of Caracas.
All of the maps were extracted from "Boletin de la Sociedad
Venezolana de Espeleología" volumes: 3-No. 2, 1971; 4-No 2,
1973; 10-No 18, 1982. and the authors are mentioned in the
description of the cavity.
Picacho de Galipan tunnels 1 & 2:
Both tunnels are located some 1960 m. above the sea level
(a.s.l.). West from the town of San José de Galipán.
They seam to be mines built with intention to exploit gold. The
first of the mines has an extension of 9,5 m. and a drop of 3,5 m.
The second has a length of 14 m. and a drop of 3,5 m. UTM
coordinates of the caves are: 729.010 E. and 1.168.680 N. They are
located some 20 m. away.
Research was made by F. Urbani and I. Nouel 1/9/1969.
El Mirador tunnels numbers 1 & 2:
These tunnels are located close to the monument of Boyacá
Battle, near Avenida Boyacá or Cota Mil. The first was known
to be built for sulfur extraction. Both of them were very well
built, since they stand strong ignoring their antiquity.
The first one is located
some 1.050 m. a.s.l. and has an extension of 315 m. It's location is the following:
66 52' 45" W. & 10 31' 00" N.
The second is located
some 1.020 m. a.s.l. and has an extension of 128,5 m. It's location is the following:
10 31' 00" N. & 66 52' 43" W.
Research was made by F. Serrano, J. Coca, L. Pérez and M. A. Perera
9/17/1972.
Viacrucis Second Station mine:
It is located, following Spanish old Camino Real, from Caracas
towards Castillitos in El Avila mountain. It is located some 1.270
m. a.s.l. It's development is 26 m. with a drop of 10 m. It's
location is the following: 66 55' 21" W. & 10 31' 52"N.
Research was made by F. Urbani and L. A. Surumay 3/6/1966.
Vista Alegre Tunnel:
It is located some 1.080
m. a.s.l. You may find it following what is today Vista Alegre's "A"
street. Apparently, it was built in order to extract coal. It is some 39 m.
in length and its location in UTM coordinates is 724.250 E. and 1.161.250 N.
Research was made by C. Santamaria and E. Santamaria from the
C.E.E.U.S.B. group 6/11/1972.
Baruta's old road Tunnel:
It is all that is left
from the old Baruta mines. It is located some 1.000 m. a.s.l. With a development
of 15 m. It's geographic coordinates are the following: 66 51' 40" W. &
10 27' 20" N. Since the tunnel is older than the road, we suppose that
it had a bigger development in the past.
Research was made by F. Serrano and J. Coca 9/17/1972
Joroma's Mine:
It is located close to
what is today Road "B" of El Prado. & Km. away from San Diego
De Los Altos. Next to a place called El Topo de la Joroma, some 1.320 m. a.s.l.
People assure, the mine was constructed for Nickel exploitation.
Research was made by E. Arnal and F. Urbani 4/27/1969.
There are many more colonial mines in the rest of the country, and even close to Caracas, as for example: Castillitos, Boquerón, Alto de Irapa. and others. Some of them have been visited, but the most have not.
Besides the mines, which at least have some speleological research
made, the colonial fortifications have never been visited by
spelunkers, and as we said before, may have many cavities to
offer. We will show now the maps of two colonial fortifications,
as they were recovered, from the Spanish archives, by Venezuelan
historian and architect Graziano Gasparini, in his book "Las
Fortificaciones del Período Hispánico en
Venezuela.
This fortifications are
the following: Fuerte El Principe, Located in the mountain of El Zamuro, one
of the fortifications found following the old Spanish Camino Real from Caracas
to La Guaira. The other is Castillo de Araya, the biggest castle ever built
in Venezuela, and Perhaps, the biggest water container of the colonial times.
In none of these castles modern research has been made.
This information can be used with reference to its author and source.
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Last modified: 04/11/96