GOLD IN
CHILE
The
news quickly spread everywhere. It was not only commented on in the main
neighboring centers such as Punta Arenas but also appeared in Chilean and
Argentine newspapers as well as in the rest of world capitals. At first, it was thought that this was
another gold rush as California's or Australia’s. The first piece of news about
gold in Tierra del Fuego came from a chance discovery that took place not
exactly in Tierra del Fuego but in Cabo Vírgenes, in the Magellan Strait on the
continent. As a consequence of the sinking of a trawler (1876), wreckers dug
looking for fresh water and found gold.
Expeditions and exploring companies were organized, but the discovery of
the coveted metal in the Fuegian archipelago took place later on and also by
chance. The Golden West wrecked in Slogget bay (1882) during Bove's expedition
to which Thomas Bridges and his sons --Despard and Lucas-- had been invited.
The second of them gathered "black sand" and mud from the beach. Some
time later (1885), while they were living in the mission of Ushuaia, Lucas
showed governor Paz what he had gathered and the man was so interested that
sent a ship in search of more mud. On coming back the vessel brought a
surprise: the so valued metal. After this, it was just a matter of letting time
pass. The piece of news was published over and over again with some stories
that made it more attractive. One of them was that about a simple missionary
and his sons - the Bridges - who had become rich.
Apogee
A torrent of people
came to the area and although some asked for allowances to explore in
Argentina, they scattered everywhere. Some went from Punta Arenas to the
Magellan Strait , others towards the Atlantic coast in Isla Grande and the rest
to Navarino I. --which was used as stopping point before reaching their
destinations. There were several important centers. In the region of San
Sebastián bay, the Rumanian [Julio] Popper settled down in El Páramo with an
important number of workers with a small army included to throw out intruding
miners. Without being determined to do it, Popper defended the Argentine
sovereignty. He was a visionary in his time: he suggested that the railway
should be extended to San Cruz and telegraph to Tierra del Fuego as they were
important centers. On the other hand, this was urgent for the integration and
development of the region. Vigorous, of a strong temper and having good
relations in Buenos Aires, Popper even minted golden coins and stamps. The
extraction of gold produced 173 kilograms between 1886 and 1992?/ 1892 for his
Company. His disputes with Tierra del Fuego governors, his hard position
against the Chilean intrusion and the fame he wan for the way in which he
treated the natives made them to be nicknamed the Fuegian Dictator. To the
south, one of the main centers was Slogget bay in Ushuaia jurisdiction.
Other
two important centers were Lennox, Nueva and Picton islands. The apogee of
the search was in 1893 when over 800 miners worked in those places. Most of these men came from the Dalmatian
coast and were fishermen or sailors. In the shelter of Lennox there were
over 100 men, each of them with his small plot in the beach where they dug to
get the mud that was then washed.
The Method Used
Near the reef, miners
dug among the rocks and rubble of the beaches down to 60 cm or several meters
where rock was found. On this rock the found black mud with iron powder and
some gold. They gathered the mud which was washed. gold was usually found in
nuggets or, more commonly, in thin film.
In Lennox island a dredger to extract auriferous mud was set up. Then it
was moved to Slogget bay where we can still see its remains. Another method used was with the "challa". Auriferous sand (mud) was
washed making the small particles to decant. With a magnet they took iron out
and gold was separated using mercury and they squeezed the mixture with a cloth
dividing the components. Many companies were founded such as "The
Argentine Tierra del Fuego Exploration Company" --that owned the dredger
in Slogget-- or "The Fortunato
Beban Exploration Company", among others. Most of these firms end up
in a failure, but they were useful to inhabit the archipelago as happened with
the Beban family that settled down in
Ushuaia in Navarino island. In the case of the English company --that owned
the dredger in Slogget--, it also contributed to the development of the region.
Because of their great disappointment, they suddenly left the area, but a
caretaker stayed. After 20 years taking care of the machine and having no news
of the firm, he received a compensation from the Argentine government that
granted him the occupation of the lands where the caretaker set up a cattle
breeding establishment.
Apparently and according to some versions with few real proofs, only the miners
that arrived in the first years were lucky. It was said that in Lennox island
17 men working for three months gathered 70 kilograms of gold. Others speak
about nuggets of a size of two or three sterling pounds. There are even
exaggerated stories as the one which says that in Popper's installations in
Slogget bay he had extracted 14 kg. of gold in one night finding nuggets of
over 500 g.
Consequences
The truth is that many men went there and working hard and patiently could fill
a bottle or two with gold and then they went to Punta Arenas or Ushuaia. Once
they paid for their debts and bought provisions for the following explorations,
they squandered the rest of the gold so they were penniless as when the
adventure had started. According to
Lucas Bridges: "The arrival of miners was to us a sending from
heaven." Because it increased the activity in the store of Harberton
estancia, apart from the selling his cattle. Mining also encouraged the opening
of other shops and the increase in population. In that period Punta
Arenas was a vigorous town where hundreds of ships beached every month. Vessels
got provisions and coal especially. It was the meeting place for those who had
their destination on the Atlantic or on the Pacific. The age of tall ships was
already coming to an end. They had to sail by the route of Cape Horn given the
difficulty in navigating in the Magellan Strait with sails only. So until the
opening of the Panama Canal (1914), Punta Arenas enjoyed of enviable apogee and
economic prosperity.The situation of the first settlers of the Beagle and the
Fuegian archipelago was quite different and on several occasions they had to
ask for help to the vessels that sailed by in order to survive. Gold
diggers paid in the shops with gold powder for which a scale and a coin as
measure. This custom went on for long as although there was not enough gold for
a company, some could be found washing sand. Gold was transported in bottles
and, according to Vicente Padín's
experience in his shop in the 50s, miners carried cider bottles with old powder
that could weight about 15 kg. when full.
The worst part of this gold rush was suffered by the primitive
inhabitants of the area. Without understanding what was going on, the Shelknam
(in the north) were expelled from their land and if they attempted to take a
sheep - as naturally as they hunted a guanaco - they were chased after to be
imprisoned if they were lucky. Yamanas were forced to leave their quiet bays
and quickly induced to adopt other customs. The worst of them was the drinking
of alcohol: women get drunk and if they do not surrender they were taken by
sailors, gold diggers and sealers. Their end was quickly approaching.
Where does this gold come
from?
Many people wonder
about the origin of this gold and if there is something left of the valued
mineral. The answer to the second question is affirmative and for those ready
to go in search of gold there are key places to get positive results: San
Sebastián Bay --near the place known as El Páramo--, on the Magellan Strait
--on the rocky bottom-- and in Bahía Inútil. This is known as the result of
investigation works carried on in the 70s by American and Chilean companies. The
geologist Francisco P. Montecinos from the MONTEX Mining Inc. of the USA
determined the presence of gold in different concentrations in the places above
mentioned. According to his studies, it is alluvial gold carried by river
waters down to the sea and then swept away by marine currents. This is the
reason why the various rivers of San Sebastián bay carry auriferous particles
that on entering the Atlantic Ocean are carried by a sea current that runs to
the north thus producing a deposit in El Páramo. An American firm started to extract gold in
the Magellan Strait in the 80s, but profits were not good enough for the
company. Now then: what is alluvial
gold? Quite simple. It is a metal which has been uncovered by the glaciers in
the moraines, rainfalls and thaw that make the gold to be carried by water.
This is a process that takes millions of years and first miners that settled
down in the area could get what nobody had touched for many millenniums. On the
contrary, the Yugoslavian Popper had never minted his own gold coins.
The Black Gold: Petroleum
The exploitation of
oil and gas started with the works of Yacimientos
Petrolíferos Fiscales in the area of
San Sebastián which then extended to the whole north part of the island.
Nowadays, exploitation and perforation goes on off-shore and it is thought that
there is a large deposit up to the Malvinas. These islands --of the Spaniards
and usurped by England-- are within 200 m deep and oil may be found. That is
why sovereignty is so important given the 200 miles projection around the
islands. The first well (TF-1) was perforated in 1949 and is one of the ones
that provides gas. The production of crude oil is shipped in San Sebastián bay
using bosses. A gas pipe extends through the island and carries liquid gas to
the continent. In 1991 the privatization process of exploitation,
perforation and extraction of oil as well as the commercialization started. The
Natural Gas is also undergoing this process.
Today, there are some hundred exploitation wells inland and several
platforms on the Magellan Strait. Unfortunately, a lot of this gas is set free,
blowed and burn as facilities are not enough.
We wish to thank the contribution of
the geologist Francisco P. Montecinos from the MONTEX MINING INC. - 6020 Cliff
Road, EVERGREEN, COLORADO CO804339, United States of America. He is specialized
in prospecting auriferous minerals and petroleum.
Coin and Stamp
In Tierra del Fuego,
the Romanian Engineer Julio Popper apart from being in charge of his mining
company of gold "harvest" and devoted most of his time to recognize
the area on foot and sailing. He draw a map of Tierra del Fuego and on one of
his voyages he arrived at the Antarctica studying the possibility of a whales
exploitation. In his three mining establishments, apart from an army for
internal security, a "stamp" and a "coin" by him minted
circulated. He justified the existence
of the coin calling it a gold "medal" that he sent to mint in the
Casa de la Moneda (Mint House) of Buenos Aires. On the coin it was marked the
weight and law that they represented, being the gram the smallest unit. So
workers could change of their gold powder by medals. They were easy to handle
and the risk of loss was lower. Gold powder was difficult to deal with living
in tents. Popper also got stamps to be printed and called them "mark"
or "stamp-like money vouchers". Because of a reporting the ad-honorem
chief of mail of San Sebastián, the commissioner Ramón L. Cortés, brought an
official action against [Julio] Popper. But he justified the existence of his
stamp as it was 10 cents worth or centigrams of local gold that were used to
give fractions of gram to his workers what would be difficult to mint as a
"medal". Besides, this was a mark that his used for internal mail
that circulated between camping, and in mail sent to Punta Arenas by his men on
horseback. These carriers received a house, meal, their salary, apart from a
"mark" of ten cents --that J. Popper provided-- and was exchanged by
an equivalent amount of gold. The fact is that when arriving to some post
office --Punta Arenas, for instance-- mail was re-sent off by the ordinary
service adding the corresponding values.
Anyway, although there was a post office in the establishment of San
Sebastián it practically did not work until 1891and mail was sent by ship via a
close relation who stamped it in port. In fact, it was a private seal issued
for Tierra del Fuego. It circulated for a short time: from January [1991/1891]
until August that same year. It is found together with Chilean seals, if mail
comes from Punta Arenas with its corresponding canceller (Sandy Point), or
with Argentine stamps. In mail between establishments, it is found on its
own.This conflict end up in "file away", by the Dirección General de
Correos y Telégrafos in December 1892.
This stamp was printed in a pinkish carmine colour by Kidd & Co.,
the house that made postage stamps for Argentina. It shows a work jacket and a hammer as
miners' symbols. On both of them, there is a sun with a capital P (standing for
Popper) and a band reading TIERRA DEL FUEGO. On a vertex, a star and a letter
facing it. In each corner the value is marked 10 and around the rim it reads
TEN - CENTS - GOLD - LOCAL.
Text
taken from the book "Oro en Tierra del Fuego" Edited by the Maritime Museum.
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Links
http://historiatdf.netcombbs.com.ar : Web about history of Tierra del Fuego.
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further information send your mail to
museomar@satlink.com or to museomar@tierradelfuego.org.ar