Bushiribana and Balashi are the sites of two former gold

smelter Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron, copper, silver, tin, lead and zin ...

s on the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

island of

Aruba Aruba, officially the Country of Aruba, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in the southern Caribbean Sea north of the Venezuelan peninsula of Paraguaná Peninsula, Paraguaná and northwest of Curaçao. In 19 ...

Bushiribana

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

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

from the

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically including metals, concentrated above background levels, and that is economically viable to mine and process. The grade of ore refers to the concentration ...

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, which collapsed on 2 September 2005.

Balashi

In 1899, the

Aruba Gold Concessions Company Aruba, officially the Country of Aruba, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in the southern Caribbean Sea north of the Venezuelan peninsula of Paraguaná Peninsula, Paraguaná and northwest of Curaçao. In 19 ...

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

Frenchman's Pass (in Dutch) or (in Papiamento) (literally: Frenchman's Pass) is a narrow passage on the island of Aruba, nestled between coral cliffs in Balashi. Frenchman's pass is located north of the area known as Spanish Lagoon and near the remnants of the ...

. In 1916 during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, 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 lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In 1933, a sea water

desalination Desalination is a process that removes mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination is the removal of salts and minerals from a substance. One example is Soil salinity control, soil desalination. This is important for agric ...

plant was constructed at Balashi.

References

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