Lota 6.48

Lota is a city and commune located in the center of Chile on the Gulf of Arauco, in the southern Concepción Province of the Biobío Region, 39 kilometres south of Concepción, and is one of the ten cities (communes) that constitutes the Concepción metropolitan area. The city is mostly known for being the traditional centre of coal mining in Chile, albeit mining ended in the 1990s.HistoryThe first Spanish settlement, Santa Maria de Guadalupe, was founded by the governor Ángel de Peredo on October 12, 1662 but it did not survive long amidst the hostilities of the Arauco War. The modern city is linked to the coal mining industry that existed there from the mid-nineteenth century. The initial trigger of coal mining was the arrival of steamships to the port of Talcahuano. These steam ships, most of whom were English, bought initially the coal very cheaply and the exploited coal seams were easy to work as they laid almost at ground level. Industrialist Matías Cousiño begun mining operations in Lota in 1852. Coal mining transformed rapidly Lota, from being a sparsely populated frontier zone in the mid-19th century, into a large industrial hub that attracted immigrants from all over Chile well into the 20th century.