Bushiribana and Balashi are the sites of two former gold smelters on the Caribbean island of Aruba. Bushiribana gold mine

Bushiribana

The Aruba Island Gold Mining Company built the Bushiribana smelter in 1825 to extract

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

from the

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 Apr ...

that was being mined in the nearby hills of Ceru Plat; it operated for ten years. Today, its remains are a stopping-off point for tourists on their way to view the

Aruba Natural Bridge The Aruba Natural Bridge was a tourist attraction in Arikok National Park, Aruba that was formed naturally out of coral limestone. It collapsed on 2 September 2005. The natural arch, measuring approximately high and long, was the remnant of an ...

, which collapsed on September 2, 2005.

Balashi

In 1899, the

Aruba Gold Concessions Company Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...

built a gold smelter at Balashi, at the southern end of

Frenchman's Pass Frenchman's Pass is a narrow passage on the island of Aruba, between coral cliffs above the area known as Spanish Lagoon. From the pass one can see the remains of the Balashi Gold Mine. Legend has it that French pirate Piracy is an act ...

. In 1916 during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, it closed for lack of raw materials and spare parts, as most of them came from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. In 1933, a sea water desalination plant was constructed at

Balashi Bushiribana and Balashi are the sites of two former gold smelters on the Caribbean island of Aruba. Bushiribana The Aruba Island Gold Mining Company built the Bushiribana smelter in 1825 to extract gold from the ore that was being mined in the ...

References

{{coord missing, Netherlands Buildings and structures in Aruba History of Aruba Gold mining