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Friday 13 december 2024
The Bushiribana Gold Mill Ruins and its history
(Oranjestad)—The Bushiri- Under the leadership of Mr.
bana Gold Mill Ruins is one Paulus Printz, a three-year
of the most visited places by search was conducted on
tourists on the island, as it lies Aruba, to no avail. Though
along the northern coast line they found some gold, it was
near the mini pool and on the enough to motivate a further
way to the Natural Bridge. search, and the assignment
Despite its seemingly plain was discontinued by Printz and carve out gold from
appearance, this ruin rep- himself. the rocks. Aruba Island Gold
resents one of the most im- Mining Company Ltd. was no
portant histories of the island: It wasn’t until 100 years lat- different, but used a unique
The Aruban Gold Rush. er, in 1824, when a young method that involved grind-
boy found a lump of gold ing the rocks and letting the
Built in 1872 by English com- while out herding his fa- dust be blown away by the
pany Aruba Island Gold Min- ther’s sheep. His father took strong northeast wind, leav-
ing Company Ltd, the gold it to a local merchant who ing clumps of gold behind.
mill at Bushiribana was con- then sold the lump for $70. The next step was melting
structed in the area where Unbeknownst to the boy the gold and letting it at-
most gold was found by and his father, they quite tach to quicksilver in order
locals. The story of gold on literally struck gold, and as gold, as long as they sold it to to obtain pure gold. All these
Aruba actually dates back word got out, a gold fever At the same time, the Aruban the government. However, processes were done at the
to 1725, when a first explo- spread among the locals government took immediate after some time, the govern- Bushiribana Gold Mill.
ration for gold on the island who started searching for actions, and informed Cura- ment decided to implement
was commissioned by the more gold. About 25 pounds cao that gold was found. At stricter rules and banned lo- The gold mill itself had a short
Dutch West India Company. worth was found. first, everyone could look for cal search parties. life-span: only 10 years in
service, but its structure re-
Over the years, concession- mained relatively solid till this
holding had seen different day, and is now a historical
companies from around remnant. q
the world, all of which used
primitive methods to dig Sources: Etnia Nativa & gold-
mineranch.com.
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