Monuments

Bushiribana Gold Smelter * 1872

Category: Other Districts
Address: Bushiribana
Year Built: 1872
Open to Public: Yes
Ownership: Government of Aruba

In 1824, alluvial gold was discovered in Rooi Fluit, in a dry river bed near the North coast. Soon thereafter, gold veins were discovered in several places in the north-western part of the island.

Between 1824 to 1915, several companies have been looking for gold on Aruba.

In 1867, a 25 years concession was granted to the London-based Aruba Island Gold Mining Company, Ltd.

This company built a gold smelter at Bushiribana on the North coast, a pier in the Oranjestad harbor and a 6 mile long road between the smelter and the harbor.

The Bushiribana plant was hewn out of a formation of gabbro, a kind of basalt, from which blocks of approximately 2 feet thick were cut to construct the walls.

Several smaller buildings surrounded the factory, like the office building, of which just the foundations have survived the harsh pounding of the trade winds.

A stamp mill, furnaces, zinc tanks, tram works and other necessary machinery were erected for processing the raw and final products. The ore came mainly from Seroe Plat and the Kristalberg.

The first two years, 2938 tons of material were processed and 2075 oz. of fine gold produced. The ore was first tooled with a stamp mill.

In 1897, a new process was implemented to separate the gold from the ore, the so-called ‘cyanide process’. With the help of potassium cyanide, the gold was extracted from the crushed quartz. It turned out to be a bull’s eye and even from the remaining ore from the previous method, gold could be extracted.

In 1899, the Gold Mining Company closed down and The Bushiribana Gold Smelter was abandoned.  Another company, London-based as well, was founded, the Aruba Gold Concessions, which built the Gold Smelter at Balashi.