Abstract

GAVIRA MARQUEZ, María Concepción. Mineralogical expeditions of the late eighteenth century: The pursuit of mercury in New Spain, Rafael Andres Helling and Jose Antonio Alzate, 1778. Estud. hist. novohisp [online]. 2015, n.52, pp.1-17. ISSN 2448-6922.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehn.2013.11.001.

The mercury was a royal monopoly, and was supplied mainly from the Peninsula, this sometimes caused shortages and difficulties mainly due to wars and complications in shipping. In the late eighteenth century, the Crown made a great effort and organized an expedition to find this feature in New Spain with the help of experts from the Almaden mines in the peninsula. In this paper we wish to emphasize two important considerations: the 1778 expedition as part of this new enlightened policy that begins to value natural resources, and the policy of encouraging mining. We find it interesting to know how the expedition was planned, who took part and how, in addition to results and reports generated, developed because we believe it is important to expand knowledge about mining in New Spain.

Keywords : Colonial Mining; Quicksilver; Helling; Mineralogical expeditions; Illustration.

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