Alvaro Alonso Barba

Alvaro Alonso Barba was a Catholic priest and metallurgist born in Lepe, a town in the province of Seville, in Andalusia, Spain, in 1569. He was baptized on November 15, 1569, which, according to the customs of Spain at that time, indicates that he was born a few days earlier. Antonio says, "Baeticus ex oppido Lepe, apud Potosi"; hence Barba is assumed to be of Andalusian origin, from the ancient Roman province of Baetica. He held a degree in theology and traveled to Peru around 1606, holding priestly positions in churches in various localities. He invented the pan amalgamation process (in Spanish the cazo or fondo process) for extracting silver from ore by mixing it with salt and mercury and heating it in shallow copper vessels. In 1640 he published in Madrid a book entitled Arte de los Metales, the earliest work on South American ores and minerals. It includes information on mineral localities in Bolivia. The book has been republished in Spanish, French, English and German.

Alvaro Alonso Barba died in the town of Triana, in the province of Seville, on October 25, 1662.