43 Revista de la Sociedad Geológica de España 32 (1) ISSN (versión impresa): 0214-2708 ISSN (Internet): 2255-1379 LA MINERÍA DEL CARBÓN EN FILIPINAS DURANTE EL SIGLO XIX: LA INSPECCIÓN GENERAL DE MINAS Y LOS INFORMES DE ANTONIO HERNÁNDEZ ESPIERA(1853) Y CÉSAR LASAÑA VÁZQUEZ (1861) Coal mining in the Philippines during the 19th century: the Mining Bureau and the reports of Antonio Hernández Espiera (1853) and César Lasaña Vázquez (1861) Isabel Rábano Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, Ríos Rosas 23, 28003 Madrid.
[email protected] Abstract: The existence of coal basins in the Philippines was known since 1827, although their re- search was not conducted in an organized way until a few years later, when numerous discoveries of coal mines took place mainly in the islands of Luzon and Cebu. A Mining Bureau was settled in 1837, dependent on the governor of the islands and served by mining engineers sent from peninsu- lar Spain and appointed by the Ministry of Public Works. The greatest efforts in relation to coal were focused on the location of mines capable of supplying the warships of the Navy. This preten- sion met with numerous difficulties due to the low profitability of the mines and the erroneous da- ting of the coals, supposedly Carboniferous, until in 1886 Enrique Abella y Casariego confirmed their Cenozoic age. The goal concluded with the transfer of the Spanish colony to the United States of America in December 1898. In the present work, the historiography of the Mining Bureau of the Philippine Islands during the 19th century is analyzed with its achievements, protagonists and dif- ficulties in relation to coal mining.