AN EYE FOR RICHES
For decades even centuries after the first Spaniards landed in South America, there was a desperate and frequently violent search for riches, fabled gold and silver mines. This extended as far south as the Chilean desert. The real riches in the desert were of neither gold nor silver and they were discovered entirely by accident. A prospector, for gold and silver naturally, Jose Santos Ossa was sitting by his campfire when he noticed that the ground all around was crackling with a blue flame. Next day, he examined the ground and found that the desert floor was crusted with nitrate salts. This is the substance that is so important in the manufacture of fertilizers and explosives. Santos Ossa became enormously wealthy as the desert became the world’s chief source of nitrates. From The Land and People of Chile, by D. Bowen p. 90
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