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became saturated and
mercury permeated through four feet of solid
brickwork in the condenser foundation. These bricks were
subsequently
"cooked," like the tierra brick, to recover the mercury.
Lime was part of the
process and was added to provide oxygen and purify the
fumes --
something that is now considered modern for air quality
control!
the works
It was indeed fortunate for
California that mercury was available here
when it was needed to process ore containing gold or
silver. After the war
with Mexico, land grant claims were refiled with the new
government and
under American law it was determined that Castillero's
unstaked claim
was improper, as the land the mines were on had already
been granted to
two Ranchos. Although the claim reverted to American
interests, Forbes
was paid $1.75 million for his property. During the twelve
years it took to
process the claim through the courts, he had shipped $15
million of
quicksilver in metal flasks to Tepic. The mineros stayed
and the new
owners brought in Cornish miners from Cornwall, England,
who settled in
Englishtown.
Otherwise, the mine was now free of any foreign influence.
Mercury from
Almaden, Spain, controlled the gold and silver production
of the rest of the
world under the direction of English Baron Rothchild. His
use of convict
labor surely helped his profit margin. The New Almaden
Quicksilver
Mines were essential to the economy of the West and later
helped to
finance the Union.
When operations ceased in 1975, over 100 miles of
excavations, including
35 miles of hard-rock tunnels shored every 2 feet with
redwood beams,
remained. Without the large Cornish pump, the mines flooded
below the
800 foot level. The Hacienda, Spanishtown, and Englishtown
have been
dismantled and the land turned into a Santa Clara County
Regional Park.
Clean, imported fill covers the soils of the Hacienda. Some
trails and areas
are restricted. One chimney stands, sentinel to this legacy, and in New
Almaden a museum tells the story. Any remaining ore is
abandoned to the
dictates of suburban development which has a new use for
the old name,
"Cinnabar Hills."
Photos: "South Pacific
Coast," 1968, Bruce MacGregor.
Drawings courtesy of Mike Cox
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