Archaeologists in Chile say they have discovered the oldest mine in the Americas, an iron oxide mine in northern Chile dating back to 12,000 years.
The mine is located near the modern day town of Taltal in the Antofasgasta region, about 1,100 km north of Santiago. It was discovered a couple of years ago in October 2008 but it is only recently through tests conducted in laboratories abroad that the antiquity of the mine was established.
The Huentelauquen Indians are believed to have mined the iron oxide and used it as a pigment for dying cloth and as part of religious rites and rituals. The researcher from the University of Chile, Diego Salazar said that the mine provided evidence for unexpected levels of sophistication in the primitive people.
Salazar said that the fact that they developed a mine showed the importance that religion had in their life. The team of researchers found a number of ancient stone and conch mining tools in the region. The mine is being called the San Ramon 15 mine. The world’s oldest mine is however over 40,000 years old and is located in South Africa.