Caracoles was a

silver mining Silver mining is the extraction of silver by mining. Silver is a precious metal and holds high economic value. Because silver is often found in intimate combination with other metals, its extraction requires the use of complex technologies. In ...

district in what is now

Antofagasta Region The Antofagasta Region (, ) is one of Chile's Administrative divisions of Chile, sixteen first-order administrative divisions. Being the second-largest region of Chile in area, it comprises three provinces, Antofagasta Province, Antofagasta, El ...

, Chile. At the time of official discovery in 1870 the district was located in

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

. The silver ores of Caracoles were discovered on March 24, 1870, by a Chilean prospecting team led by José Díaz Gana that had departed from the port town of

Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. Once claimed by Bolivia follo ...

. Subsequently the orescame to be extracted with Chilean capital and miners. It was the last major discovery of the Chilean silver rushes. According to

Oreste Plath César Octavio Müller Leiva (13 August 1907 – 24 July 1996), mostly known under the pseudonym Oreste Plath, was a Chilean writer and folklorist. In 1942, he began studying folklore, making trips to neighboring countries like Bolivia, Braz ...

"some old miners believe that" Caracoles was discovered much earlier, presumably in 1811, by two Aragonese men who were escaping persecution during the independence era. Subsequently, the location of the outcrop is said to have been forgotten. The site of Caracoles evolved rapidly from a series of rudimentary shelts and huts in 1870 to a small hamlet in 1871. Afterwards the settlement continued to grow reaching a population of several thousand inhabitants. Its accurate location led to dispute between the Bolivian and the Chilean Governments because the

Boundary Treaty of 1866 between Chile and Bolivia The Boundary Treaty of 1866 between Chile and Bolivia, also called the Mutual Benefits Treaty, was signed in Santiago de Chile on August 10, 1866, by the Chilean Foreign Affairs Minister Alvaro Covarrubias and the Bolivian Plenipotentiary in Santi ...

ordered that tax incomes from the region between the 23°S and the 25°S should be divided in equal parts. Negotiations led to the Corral-Lindsay agreement, which was not ratified by Bolivia, but later both countries signed the

Boundary Treaty of 1874 between Chile and Bolivia The Boundary Treaty of 1874 between Chile and Bolivia, also called the Treaty of Sucre, was signed in Sucre on August 6, 1874, by the Bolivian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mariano Baptista and the Chilean plenipotentiary minister Carlos Walker Mar ...

which eliminated the "Mutual Benefits Zone" between the 23°S and the 25°S parallels. Mining in Caracoles begun to decline in the mid-1870s due to the exhaustion of the richest ores and declining international prices of silver. Villalobos, Sergio; Silva, Osvaldo; Silva, Fernando; Estelle, Patricio (1974). ''Historia De Chile'' (14th ed.).

Editorial Universitaria Editorial Universitaria is Chilean university press based in Santiago. It was established in 1947 with funds from private people and from the University of Chile. During its existence, it has published the works of generations influential Chilean sc ...

. , pp. 595–603. Caracoles' long distance to the ports in the coast did not help either to the economic situation. After Chilean conquest in 1879 the town was declared head of Caracoles Department in Antofagasta Province. The settlements associated with the mines were largely depopulated and in ruins by the 1950s.

Gallery

File:Provincia de Antofagasta-1895.jpg, Map of Antofagasta Province in 1895. Caracoles is marked out east of

Mejillones Mejillones is a Chilean port city and commune in Antofagasta Province in the Antofagasta Region. Its name is the plural form of the Spanish meaning "mussel", referring to a particularly abundant species and preferred staple food of its indigen ...

and south of Calama. File:Caracoles, antofagasta, 1872.jpg, The burgoing town of Caracoles in 1872.

References

{{reflist Mines in Antofagasta Region Silver mines in Bolivia Silver mines in Chile Former mines in Chile 1870 establishments in Bolivia Ghost towns in South America Populated places in Antofagasta Province