New Mexico Spanish Mining & Ore Processing Terminology
of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries. - la idiomia del
norte -
abra -- fault, fissure or cavity, either underground
or visible on the surface.
abujero -- hole or bore hole (variant of
agujero ).
achicar, achicador, achinchique --
achicar, to diminish, refers to lowering the level of water in a mine;
a person employed to perform this task, usually by using
botas, is called
achicador or achinchique;
bailer. See ateca.
ademes, ademador -- the timbers bracing the interior
of a mine works are ademes; the timberman or carpenter responsible for the
ademes is the ademador.
afíjate! -- "brace yourself!",
"watch it!"
afinación -- refining; separating the desirable
metal from the undesirable material.
alcribis -- the concavity at the base of a smelting
furnace into which the nozzle of a bellows is inserted; a tuyere; also called
tovera.
aparejo -- the tackle apparatus used to raise the
timber linings of an excavation that have become loose or have fallen.
apericado -- an ore.
aperos -- the utensils and implements necessary for
mining; everything from blasting powder to tools. Also, a packsaddle.
a pique -- downward; a vertically downward dig along
a vein.
apurador -- a person (male or female) who searches
for metal in the mine wastes or smelter refuse; a gleaner; a person who rewashes
material from the tinas.
arenilla -- moulding sand, an indicator of other ores.
arrastre -- a simple and efficient ore grinding mill;
a large stone at the end of a pole attached to a central pivot, dragged in
circles by a horse or mule thereby pulverizing the ore. Also called a
molienda.
atacador -- a tamper or ram used to pack the blasting
charge; ramrod. (see barrena).
atajador -- the youth who tends the horses and mules;
who brings the horses to the grinding mill.
ateca -- a worker at the lower level of a mine who
bails water and carries it to the shaft for removal.
atierras -- waste earth to be cleared in order to
reach the desired mineral; rubbish.
avíos, avíador --
avíos are the supplies and implements necessary for mining; the
person who lends money for mining or provides supplies is the
avíador.
ayenado -- an ore.
azogue, azoguería -- mercury, quicksilver; the
medium by which gold and silver are reduced; the
azoguería is the storage place for the mercury.
banco -- an area of harder rock that has caused the
course of the vein to deviate.
barra, barretero -- a barra is a hard-pointed iron
crowbar or digging tool, sometimes struck with a pica. A moil or pointed chisel. Also, one of the 12 or
24 shares into which mines are commonly divided. The barretero
is the miner who uses the barra, the
cuña, or the
pica.
barredero -- the NM idiom for a broom made of green
branches at the end of a pole, used to adjust the heat of a smelter.
(see lampazo).
barrena, barreno, barrenarse -- a
barrena is a rock borer, a short cylindrical iron rod used
to produce a hole in rock for purposes of blasting. see (
cohetajo) The barreno
is the hole itself, and also the term used to describe talk between miners, who are
said to barrenarse when they talk.
batea -- a prospector's pan; a wooden bowl used to
sample the amalgamation mixed with water, similar to the gold pan of later years.
This term is probably of Latin origin. In Georgius Agricola's 1556 "De Re
Metallica" the batea is an oval rock carrying tray.
boca -- the mouth; the opening of a mine.
bochorno -- glow, suffocating heat or foul air, heat
build-up because of poor ventilation (see vapor).
bohedal -- an underground vault in which there is loose
ore. Also known as a criadero.
boleo -- an outcrop; a mineral protruding from the surface.
bonanza -- fair weather; a rich mine.
borrasca -- foul weather; an exhausted mine. As with
bonanza, borrasca, too, has become part of mining English.
"Going borrasca" means "becoming mined-out".
(ref. Otis Young,
Western Mining, 1970.)
bota -- a leather or hide bucket used for transporting
water (see tanate,
achicar or ateca).
buscónes -- people who explore abandoned mines
in hope of discovery; searchers. Also, miners who agree to work for a share of
the proceeds.
caballo -- a mass of especially hard rock arrived at
while mining, called a horse.
calentadura -- the first ingot reduced in a smelting
furnace, or beginning the blast process of the furnace
(see descague).
caliche -- CaCO3, calcium
carbonate; often seen as a white crust on stones. It may form subsurface nodules,
or coalesce into layers, causing hardpans.
canones -- levels, drifts; horizontal levels or
galleries within a mine driven in search of the vein.
capellina -- the vessel by which mercury is distilled
out of the amalgam; the iron hood comprising one part of this apparatus; helmet.
carbóna -- properly coal, but also charcoal.
Made from oak or other hard wood, carbóna,
charcoal, was in the early days the preferred fuel for smelting because it
was low in sulfur, unlike the local coal.
cardenillo -- verdigris; a green ore.
cata -- a prospect pit or mine of shallow depth; a
trial dig; a taste.
cendrada, cendradilla -- the cendrada
is the cupelo or cup, made of fine earth and organic ash, at
the bottom of a smelter or refining furnace. A cendradilla
is a small testing furnace used to verify apparently rich ore. Also know as
galeme.
chiflón -- expanding; extending the works of a
mine both horizontally and vertically at the same time. Also a cave-in or a flue.
cielo -- skyward; working the vault or roof, or working
the top of a vein.
clavadán -- a vein of ore which lies
perpendicular to the surface of the earth.
cohetajo, cohetero -- cohetajo
is black powder wrapped in leaves, with a small reed protruding as a fuse;
a blasting charge or cartridge. The cohetero is the
explosives expert; rocketman.
comerse los pilares -- to consume the pillars, the
supporting rock of the excavated area; to abandon a mine (see
pilar).
cortar pilar -- to complete the construction of a
pillar by making a landing place (see tapextle).
cortar sogas -- to abandon a mine; to cut the ropes.
crestón -- a linear outcropping of surface rock
or vein of ore or spar exposed on the surface; a hogback.
criadero -- an underground vault in which there is
loose ore; a deposit of material. Also known as a
bohedal.
crucera, dar crucero -- a crucera
is a cross-cut. To dar crucero is to work horizontally
across the vein, exposing it or in order to approach it from a different direction.
cuadrillas -- companies or gangs of mine workers.
cuña -- a hard-edged iron wedge weighing a pound
or two, hammered with a pica.
cupelo -- a cup, made of fine earth and organic ash,
at the bottom of a smelter or refining furnace.
demasía, demasías -- demasía is
the unclaimed space between mines. Demasías is
simply unclaimed or unappropriated ground.
denuncio, denunciación -- the denunciation of a
mine; the formal proclaimation that the mine has not been worked for more than 4
months. If the court of mines of the area adjudges the
denunciación is valid, the title to the mine is awarded to
the denouncer, who must then work it to retain ownership.
derrumbe, derrumbamiento -- the cave-in of a mine;
falling down. Also known as nundido.
descagüe, descargar -- descagüe is the last
and largest ingot reduced in a descargar (blown out or
discharged) smelting furnace (see calentadura). To
descargar the furnace is to demolish it.
descagües -- water channels in a mine; pits,
shafts, and adits meant to localize water in the mine and assist in its removal
or discharge.
descubridora -- the first mine discovered on a lode,
or on a new vein (see medidas de mina).
desmonte -- the waste rock material surrounding the
vein which is removed to expose the vein; a clearing.
despensa -- a store room or pantry for tools (see
galera and
xacal). Also, a strong room for
storing ores.
echadero -- a flat place near the mine where ore is
sorted and weighed; a resting place for the mules.
echado, echada -- echado is the
dip of the slope of the vein, or lateral inclination of the ore body, and
echada is the vein itself; a throw (see veta). Also a boast.
emborrascarce la mina -- to exhaust the ore of a mine;
a played-out mine (see borrasca).
endaime -- a platform or scaffold.
ensaye -- the test of a small sample of ore by mercury
and/or heat to determine the presence of valuable metals; assay.
escalera -- a multi-notched log up to 30 feet long used
as a ladder between landings within the mine.
escoria -- dross, waste scum, slag or scoria, produced
by the smelting process (see natas or
lexean).
faenas, faenas muertas -- fatigue duty; excavating the
waste earth that must be cleared to access the vein; dead work.
fierros -- dross removed from ore when first smelted; irons.
frontón -- wall work; excavating while standing,
straight ahead.
fuelles -- the bellows of the smelter or the forge.
galeme -- a small testing furnace used to verify
apparently rich ore. Also know as cendradilla.
galera -- a large shed or millhouse where the mercury
amalgamation process is performed (see
despensa and xacal).
gallos -- the appearance of shiny metal in rich ore,
as by threads of visible gold or silver. Also the appearance of shiny metal in
heated ore, and as native metal; roosters (see pinta).
golpeador -- in preparation for blasting, the hammer
man or striker (see barrena).
grasas, grasero -- grasas is
the scum or scoriae removed from the metal when it runs out of the smelting
furnace into the float. The grasero is the slag heap (also
known as esconal).
guarda raya -- the boundary or limit line within a mine,
especially important where two different mines are communicating.
guardas -- the rock adjacent to the vein, of different
composition than the rock or the vein; the backs of the vein.
guía -- ingredients added to ore before refining to
ascertain their state. Also an indicator or guide to the richest part of the vein.
guija -- spar, or a flinty crytstaline stone that
fractures easily; black guija is an indicator of good ore.
guijo -- the iron spike on which the mortar rests.
hacienda de beneficio -- the establishment wherein
ores are reduced to their constituents.
horno -- oven; reverberatory furnace; used principally
for roasting ores, mainly pyrites and lead ores of high sulphur content to reduce
the sulphur. Also used to roast the magistral
to lower its sulphur content in preparation for its use in the amalgamation process.
horno castellano -- the ancient slender, rectangular
blast furnace, constructed of stone or adobe, and which tapered toward the bottom.
Most of these were 4 to 5 feet high and 3 feet square, with a pair of blast holes
about 18 inches from the bottom.
horno de afinacíon -- a small cupellation furnace.
hueco -- a hollow, a gap, or a hole.
hundido -- sunk in; collapsed.
incorporadera, incorporado --
incorporadera is the patio or shed where mercury and
magistral are mixed with the pulverized
ore. Also, in the reduction by amalgamation process, the first dose of
mercury. Incorporado is the amalgamation mud mixture.
intermedio -- a timber crossbeam in a mine
(see ademes).
interventor -- the invigilator or inspector representing
the interests of the aviador or
mine owner.
jaboncillo -- soft, white, soapstone, the indicator of
rich ore nearby.
jalsontles -- chunks of insufficiently ground ore;
lumps of ore too large for the incorporadera.
lama, lameros -- lama, moss, is
the slurry or slime-earth removed from vats at the amalgamation works.
Lameros are the pits for containing the slime.
Lameros are also any waste material that is not the amalgam.
lampazo -- a broom made of green branches at the end
of a pole, used to adjust the heat of a smelter; a mop.
(see barredero).
lavadero, lavandero -- a lavadero
is a large wooden vat with a contrivance to agitate or stir the slurry liquid;
the amalgam settles to the bottom and the slurry is drawn off. The operator of
the lavadero is the lavandero.
(see lama).
lazador -- a lasso expert; the person who recruits
workmen for a mine.
llaves -- strong timber beams bracing the walls of the
mine and providing support for wooden liners (see
ademes).
lenador -- the supplier of wood for the smelter furnace;
the woodman.
lexean -- said of a smelting furnace that produces
discardable slag very well.
limadura -- filing; when a sample of the amalgam is
tested by washing in a bowl (see tentadura)
the presence of limaduras are a sign of the stage of the
process, and they also indicate what additional ingredients may be required.
lis -- that stage of the amalgamation process where
the mercury has been resolved into almost imperceptible particles as observed
during tentadura process.
lumbrera -- skylight; an airshaft or ventilation shaft.
magistral -- copper sulfate reagent used in the
amalgamation process.
malacate -- a whim or windlass, or animal-driven
horizontal rope pulley apparatus, used to raise bags of ore or water up and out
of the mineshaft. Also, a whirligig spindle for making and winding thread.
mandón -- boss miner, overseer of the mine,
chief of an Indian tribe.
manta -- a blanket. Yucca fiber bags for transporting
ore or rubbish. Also horse blankets, ox hides, or gunnysacks used for this purpose
or for moving tools.
manto -- a horizontal ore vein; a cloak or bed
(see veta).
marca -- the stamp of the royal arms on a piece of
metal indicating payment of duties to the crown.
masa -- mud; the combination of ingredients for the
amalgamation process; finely ground ore, water, salt,
magistral, and mercury.
mecha -- a punk light or fuse match, usually of greased
cotton threading. Used by a cohetero
or golpeador to fire the
cohetajo.
medidas de mina -- the boundaries of the mine. Until
1783, ordinary Spanish silver mines were 120 varas by 60 varas, except that the
discoverer of the lode could claim 160 by 80 varas. Ordinary Spanish gold mines
were 80 varas by 40 varas, and the discoverer's 100 by 50 varas. After 1783, Spanish
claims were 100 varas square. (a Castillian vara is ca.32 inches) (see
descubridora).
metal de ayuda -- ores or metals added during smelting
to assist in the reduction process, as lead added to galena during its reduction
for silver.
metal de cebo, mogrollo -- ore so rich that it is
smelted in refining tests.
metal pepena -- selected high-grade samples of gold or
silver ore (see ordinario and
pepena).
mina -- a mine. The first mine discovered on a lode or
vein is the descubriadora, and all
other mines are called ordinaries.
molienda -- an
arrastre; a simple and efficient ore grinding mill; a large stone at
the end of a pole attached to a central pivot, dragged in circles by a horse or
mule, thereby pulverizing the ore.
molonque -- a piece of very rich ore composed half or
more of the desired metal.
montones -- piles of dried
masa; a stage of the amalgamation process.
natas -- dross, waste scum, slag or scoriae, produced
by the smelting process; cream (see escoria
or lexean).
nundido -- the cave-in of a mine; falling down. Also
known as derrumb.
obliqua -- an ore body that is inclined to the surface
(see veta).
piedras de mano -- ore of sufficiently good quality
that it is carried by hand.
piedroso -- very rocky, covered by rocks.
pilar -- a pillar; part of the rock left unexcavated
so that it provides support for the ceiling of the mine.
pileta -- the cistern or catchment so that water within
the mine will not drain to lower areas. Also, the vessel or pan into which the
molten metal flows out of the smelting furnace.
piña -- the amalgam of mercury and silver. Also,
the cake of silver after the mercury has been distilled
away.
plan, planes -- plan is the
floor; to work de plan is to dig downwards
(see chiflon).
The planes (plural) is the deepest part of the mine.
planchera -- a depression made of white earth connected
to the smelter into which the float flows to make ingots.
polvorilla -- a powdery earth.
rama -- branch; said of an ore vein that branches off
from the primary ore vein (see veta).
real -- royal campsite, location of the headquarters.
real de minas -- a mining camp or town.
rondana, rondanilla -- a sheave; a pulley wheel, or a
pulley wheel on the top of a headframe.
serpenteada -- an ore vein that twists and turns,
serpent-like (see veta).
socia -- an ore vein that connects to another ore vein
(see veta).
talco -- pulverized mica or micaceous earth.
tanate -- a rawhide bucket used to carry ore from the
mine; from Nahuatl tanatl, scrotum. (see
bota).
tapextle -- a flat landing within the mine (see
cortar pilar).
tentadura -- the amalgamation mixture; an alloy of silver
and mercury (see limadura and
ensayes).
tovera -- the concavity at the base of a smelting furnace
into which the nozzle of a bellows is inserted; a tuyere; also called
alcribis.
vapor -- bad air from the ground that is worse than
bochorno; poorly ventilated noxious air.
velador -- a day and night watchman for the mine. Also,
a supervisor.
vena -- a small vein; branches of an ore vein not wider
than two fingers.
veta -- vein, seam or lode.
Manto is a lode spread horizontally.
A perpendicular lode is clavadan.
Echada is the inclined ore body,
called obliqua if it extends to the
other side of the hill. Serpenteada when
it twists and turns, socia when it
connects to another vein, and rama when
it branches off the primary lode.
xacal, jacal -- a crude straw-roofed hut with walls
composed of vertical poles, sometimes covered with adobe, in which tools and ore
is kept (see galera and
despensa). A xacal
may also be erected over the dig to protect the workmen.
zoquetoso -- very muddy. From Nahuatl
zoquitl, muddy.
There are many sources for this lexicon, but the primary
ones are the notebook on the Mining Ordinances of New Spain of Francisco H. Delgado,
clerk of the Court of Private Land Claims 1897-1904, - and -
A Dictionary Of New Mexico and Southern Colorado Spanish
by RubénCobos, 1983.
This website is maintained by the Cerrillos
Hills Park Coalition
and is dedicated to the creation, enhancement and stewardship
of an historical, recreational, and cultural open space in
the
Cerrillos Hills, Santa Fe County, New Mexico, USA
