64 65 cerro de pasco The greatest investment of the XXth century The future is today Once installed in the territory, one of the key objectives of the mining entrepreneurs was to ensure new veins that would allow them to project long-term production and growth. In the case of Cerro, in order to reach the programmed levels of production for the Smelter and to rapidly finance the acquisition of more deposits –in addition to its own output– the company decided to gather ore from various local producers. Familiarity with the production of each allowed it to acquire the most suitable land and mining estates. This is why, in 1906, the U.S. conglomerate had already invested six million dollars in buying mines, four on the installation of the smelter, three on the construction of the railway from La Oroya to Cerro de Pasco and in the branch line to Goyllarisquizga; another three were spent on the introduction of technical innovations, the installation of machinery, water pumps and the timbering of the mines. It was clear that the corporation would remain in Peru for decades, and that implied building suitable installations. This is why on their arrival they selected La Esperanza estate, property of George Steel, at the time Consul General of His Britannic Majesty; on the shore of a lake that had given the estate its name, he had built a brick factory which had earned him a fortune. One of the McCunes, Alfred, had lodged there in 1901 and shortly after he made an agreement to purchase the property. The next step was to drain the lake, giving birth to the La Esperanza neighbourhood. By 1904 they had already built in that area, to the south of the city, the main train station to La Oroya, allocated spaces for workshops, for the first homes of U.S. professionals, as well as the residential camp for the workers, the sports fields and schools; that is why they decided to build their administrative headquarters there, which, at the same time, had to be very solid and functional. The draining of the lake also allowed the company to expand its mining activities. To build their new headquarters, they summoned Mr. Agustin Arias Carracedo, a Spanish migrant who was knowledgeable in stone constructions, as he had grown up in a town next to a quarry called Albergueria. With his design and direction, the work on this large, robust building with a European style market place was completed in 1907, and looks impressive to this day. Another relevant factor came into the equation that same year, when the price of copper suddenly fell from 25 to 12 cents a pound. Several of the small private miners in the area were forced to sell their properties to avoid bankruptcy and the U.S company, which continued to increase its net worth, took advantage of the purchase opportunity, increasing its future potential. Shortly before the fall in prices in 1905, the company had struck a strategic blow in the region. Despite the fact that it was a deposit outside the geographical area of C erro de Pasco, it acquired the Morococha mine, a unit that had been operating for more or less half a century and whose destinies were led by the Pflucker family, of German origin and with a deep-rooted mining tradition. Going from Lima, the mine was located before La Oroya, in the province of Yauli, in the department of Junín, and 140 kilometres from Right– The Casa de Piedra (Stone House), administrative headquarters of the Cerro de Pasco in the city, was completed in 1907 and remains standing to this day.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM0Mzk2