Ojuela was a small

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building * Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction *Settlement (fin ...

located northwest of the nearest town Mapimí, northwest. The settlement is now well known as a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...

as a result of 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 ...

being exhausted. Ojuela was established after the discovery of abandoned

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 ...

and

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

mines in the area in 1598. The Ojuela Mine produced a large quantity of mineral during the last part of the 19th century. With the advent of the

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

, all the extracted ore were transported away from the mine by

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often ...

and processed in the nearby town of Mapimí. The origins of the mine can be traced to 1598 when it was discovered by a group of Spanish prospectors. After this discovery, the mineral potential was confirmed and the exploitation began. Soon the foundations of the town were set. The town was located at the top of a mountain in close proximity to the mine's main access. This was done in order to have the workers and other mining staff as close as possible to the operation. The town developed rapidly from a small settlement to a village with all the urban services of that age. This included a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church, several warehouses, general stores and

saloons Saloon may refer to: Buildings and businesses * One of the bars in a traditional British pub * An alternative name for a bar (establishment) * Western saloon, a historical style of American bar * The Saloon, a bar and music venue in San Francisc ...

. At the end of the 19th century the property was acquired by the

Peñoles Peñoles is a subsidiary company owned by Grupo BAL. Peñoles is the second largest Mexican mining company, the first Mexican producer of gold, zinc and lead and the world leader in silver production. Peñoles is a company with active mines wit ...

Mining Company. This was one of the first mining operations of this company. At the beginning of the 20th century there were problems with the mining exploitation due to the conflicts and struggles originated by the Mexican Revolution and with the additional problem of the water presence inside the

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

. At the end of the revolution the operation continued but soon the mineral reserves were exhausted and the company decided to lease it to a local miners co-operative, therefore the town was gradually abandoned. Now there is no mining activity. However, there are a few

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

, rock and stone sellers and some tour guides. Currently the main buildings and other structures are in ruins. It is possible to visit this location and recognize the old church, the foundations of the miners houses, the

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities ...

s, other mining facilities and to have a guided tour down the access of the former mine. The only surviving and functional structure is a suspension bridge. The bridge is known as "Puente de Ojuela" ( Ojuela Bridge) by the locals. The original bridge was designed by the famous Roebling brothers, who also designed the 1866

Roebling Suspension Bridge The John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge (formerly the Cincinnati-Covington Bridge) is a suspension bridge that spans the Ohio River between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky. When opened on December 1, 1866, it was the longest suspension ...

of Cincinnati and the 1883 Brooklyn Bridge. At the time of construction in 1898, the Puente de Ojuela was the third longest suspension bridge in the world. It was rebuilt recently by the

Company; the original was scrapped and only the main arches are now displayed at the

Torreón Torreón () is a city and seat of Torreón Municipality in the Mexican state of Coahuila. As of 2021, the city's population was 735,340. The metropolitan population as of 2015 was 1,497,734, making it the ninth-biggest metropolitan area in ...

Exposition Center. Image:Recuerdo_del_Puente_de_Ojuela_-_Gold_Mine_-_1892_-_near_Torreon,_Mexico_005-800X600.jpg, The Ojuela Bridge in Mapimi, Durango, Mexico Image:Recuerdo_del_Puente_de_Ojuela_-_Gold_Mine_-_1892_-_near_Torreon,_Mexico_008-800X600.jpg, The Ojuela Bridge Image:Recuerdo_del_Puente_de_Ojuela_-_Gold_Mine_-_1892_-_near_Torreon,_Mexico_009-800X600.jpg, The Ojuela Bridge Image:Ojuela 25.jpg, The Ojuela Bridge, low angle Image:Ojuela 31.jpg, Entrance to the mine Image:Ojuela 20.jpg, Inside the mine

Minerals from Ojuela

The mine is known among mineral collectors for its

arsenate mineral Arsenate minerals usually refer to the naturally occurring orthoarsenates, possessing the (AsO4)3− anion group and, more rarely, other arsenates with anions like AsO3(OH)2− (also written HAsO42−) (example: pharmacolite Ca(AsO3OH).2H2O) or ( ...

s. Ojuela adamite and legrandite have set the standard for these species. The 117 species now known from the deposit include adamite (in an array of colors and habits), legrandite, köttigite / parasymplesite, and paradamite, as well as specimens of

scorodite Scorodite is a common hydrated iron arsenate mineral, with the chemical formula FeAsO4·2H2O. It is found in hydrothermal deposits and as a secondary mineral in gossans worldwide. Scorodite weathers to limonite. Scorodite was discovered in the ...

hemimorphite Hemimorphite is the chemical compound Zn4( Si2O7)( OH)2 ·H2O, a component of mineral calamine. It is a silicate mineral which, together with smithsonite (ZnCO3), has been historically mined from the upper parts of zinc and lead ores. Both ...

plattnerite Plattnerite is an oxide mineral and is the beta crystalline form of lead dioxide (β-PbO2), scrutinyite being the other, alpha form. It was first reported in 1845 and named after German mineralogist Karl Friedrich Plattner. Plattnerite forms bun ...

aurichalcite Aurichalcite is a carbonate mineral, usually found as a secondary mineral in copper and zinc deposits. Its chemical formula is . The zinc to copper ratio is about 5:4. Occurrence Aurichalcite typically occurs in the oxidized zone of copper and z ...

rosasite Rosasite is a carbonate mineral with minor potential for use as a zinc and copper ore. Chemically, it is a copper zinc carbonate hydroxide with a copper to zinc ratio of 3:2, occurring in the secondary oxidation zone of copper-zinc deposits. It wa ...

fluorite Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is the mineral form of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It belongs to the halide minerals. It crystallizes in isometric cubic habit, although octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon. The Mohs sca ...

, calcite,

wulfenite Wulfenite is a lead molybdate mineral with the formula Pb Mo O4. It can be most often found as thin tabular crystals with a bright orange-red to yellow-orange color, sometimes brown, although the color can be highly variable. In its yellow form ...

mimetite Mimetite is a lead arsenate chloride mineral (Pb5(AsO4)3Cl) which forms as a secondary mineral in lead deposits, usually by the oxidation of galena and arsenopyrite. The name derives from the Greek Μιμητής ''mimetes'', meaning "imitator" a ...

and other species. It is also the type locality for paradamite, lotharmeyerite, metakottigite, mapimite and ojuelaite, and the co-type locality for scrutinvite.Moore, T.P. and Megaw, P.K.M. (2003): Famous mineral localities: The Ojuela mine, Mapimi, Durango, Mexico. The Mineralogical Record, 34(5), 1-91
Partial text, no figures
/ref>

References

at Mindat.org

External links

Ojuela Mine, with historic photographs (ca. 1910)
{{coord, 25.793619, N, 103.791358, W, region:MX_type:city, display=title Populated places in Durango Ghost towns in Mexico 1598 establishments in New Spain Populated places established in 1598 Former gold mines Spanish Colonial architecture in Mexico Gold mines in Mexico