Glossary of Technical Terms in Spanish

Afinación: second stage of smelting process where silver is separated from lead and litharge (greta) is produced (cupellation) Alcribís: see Tuyère Arrastre: circular grinding equipment using horizontal stones, powered by water or animal power Aviador: person who supplied materials on credit to miners and refiners Azogado: person intoxicated with mercury Azogar: to intoxicate with mercury Azogue: mercury Azoguería: room where mercury was handled (stored, weighed, extracted by squeezing through a cloth containing the amalgam) Azoguero: in New Spain, applied to the master in charge of the patio process Barra: bar of silver-enriched lead from first stage of smelting (see refinación) Beneficio: term applied to refining, ie beneficio de plata por azogue meant refining of silver ores using mercury, beneficio de plata por fuego, refining by smelting Bonanza: a very rich zone of precious metal in a deposit Caja: regional Treasury, usually but not always a mining district Canoas: rectangular vats used in New Spain in the sixteenth century, where refining by mercury was carried out Capellina: 1. Equipment to recover mercury from amalgam by heating, consisting of a metallic top cover and a base placed on the water channel that condensed mercury 2. In Guanajuato, also applied to the building that housed the capellina ensemble Caperuza: upper part of early version (16c) of equipment to recover mercury from amalgam, made from clay or metal Carbón: charcoal Cárcamo: channel to drain waste water laden with mineral silt, that ran through hacien- das de patio Cazo: a copper pot or vessel, used by Alonso Barba for his cocimiento (cooking) process using mercury Cendrada: bone ash impregnated with litharge, material used in the cupel (vaso) that held the barras for the afinación Correspondencia: amount of silver, in marks, which was produced for every 100 quin- tales of mercury consumed Desazogadera: equipment to recover mercury from amalgam by heating under con- trolled conditions, see capellina Desmontes: tailings from a mine Diezmo: tax of a tenth applied to silver registered at each local Treasury (Caja) glossary of technical terms in spanish 397

Fundición: smelting of silver compounds in the presence of lead to obtain elemental silver, which is then absorbed by the molten lead. The silver-enriched lead is cast into barras (pigs) Galena: lead sulphide (PbS), which can contain silver that can be extracted by smelting Grasas: slag from smelting furnace Greta: litharge, lead oxide (PbO) Hacienda: original term referred to the creation of wealth, was then applied initially to silver refining units in New Spain (Hacienda de beneficio, Hacienda de patio, called ingenios in Peru) and to agricultural and livestock economic units Horno Castellano: initially very simple smelting furnaces, in the form of a pillar with a square or circular cross-section, built from mortar and stones and with a low chimney outlet Ingenio: originally refers to a machine, and in Peru was used to denote a silver refining facility (an hacienda in New Spain). Lavado de metales: concentrating the silver content of an ore by washing away the less dense fractions with water. In English the term is dressing. Maestrazgo: land and mining rents to the Spanish Crown from territories that historic- ally were under the control of Spanish military orders Manga: vertical cloth filter used to squeeze excess mercury from amalgam Maquila: business model whereby an hacienda refines silver ores that belong to third parties, for a fee that covers its operational costs plus a profit margin Merced: a royal grant awarded to technical innovations by the Spanish authorities. Metal: ore Minero: applied both to miners and refiners of silver ores Molino: circular stone set on its edge and driven by water or animal power, used to crush ore Montón: literally mound, was a unit of measure in the patio reactor, thus a torta at Regla was composed of 20 montones, and each montón represented 30 cargas (see Guide to the text). These are not universal values and can vary according to mining location. Mortero: mill that uses stamp-heads made of stone or metal to crush ore, driven by human, animal or water power Negrillos: term used to denote the darker and deeper silver ores in a deposit, mainly silver sulphide compounds Patio: the courtyard that functioned as a chemical reactor, where tortas were spread out until the silver refining process was deemed completed Planillas: inclined planes to separate entrained amalgam, mercury or silver ore from the washings of the torta Planilleros: workers stationed at the planillas Plata de azogue: silver refined using mercury Plata de fuego: silver refined by smelting