Silver Strike at Zacatecas

1548

Spanish prospectors struck rich silver veins in the arid highlands of Zacatecas, opening a second great American silver frontier alongside Potosi. Mines, haciendas, and mission churches spread along the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, and northern New Spain was pulled violently into the global economy. The patio process for amalgamating silver with mercury made Mexican mines enormously productive, consuming vast quantities of imported mercury.