Mines of Guanajuato Guanajuato had its beginnings in the
discovery of prodigious silver mines, which at the end of the
eighteenth century converted the city into the largest silver
producer ever known up to that time. The first discoveries are
shrouded in legend, making it difficult to distinguish reality
from fiction. However, there seems to be no doubt that it was in
the year 1558 that work began on the first mineshafts of the
Rayas and Mellado mines, and it was in that same year that the
famous mother lode of Guanajuato was discovered from those very
mineshafts. This generous vein runs through the hills that
border the city to the north and northeast, and it has left on
the surface a constellation of mines and mineshafts channeling
downward to catch the vein in its sinuous trajectory. On the
tops of these hills, there are quite a few impressive ruins
which signal the presence of mining work. Sure enough, nestled
in the spaces between these hills one finds the mines of
Calderones, El Cedro, and El Cubo, at