Page 11 - AHATA

A9
LOCAL Friday 11 July 2025

The Bushiribana Gold Mill Ruins and its history

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

Aruba to me

ORANJESTAD — You are back and we
would like to portrait you! By inviting you Last but not least: check out our website,
to send us your favorite vacation picture Instagram and Facebook page! Thank
while enjoying our Happy Island. you for supporting our free newspaper, we
strive to make you a happy reader every
Complete the sentence: Aruba to me is day again.
……. Send your picture with that text (in-
cluding your name and where you are For today we received a lovely message
from) to: news@arubatoday.com and we from Steve Shade from Boston MA, USA.
will publish your vacation memory. Isn’t
that a special way to keep your best mo- He wrote to us saying: “What Aruba means
ments alive? Please do note: By submitting to me is an annual peaceful get away
photos, text or any other materials, you with my wife Vici for our Anniversary and
give permission to The Aruba Today News- her birthday. Aruba is and always will be
paper, Caribbean Speed Printers and any our happy place!”
of its affiliated companies to use said ma-
terials, as well as names, likeness, etc. for Thank you for sending us this wonderful
promotional purposes without compensa- message sharing what Aruba means to
tion. you with us and our readers!q