Don Gabriel Montalvo, appointed Governor of Cuba in 1573, was much impressed by the reports he had heard of the rich copper deposits near the city of Santiago de Cuba, and visited some of the old workings, but found the native Cubenos very reluctant to give him information in regard to mineral deposits, fearing evidently that they would be compelled to work in them as miners. A copper deposit was soon afterwards found near Havana, and samples of ore were forwarded to Spain with the request that 50 negroes be detailed to exploit the mine. The quality of the ore was apparently satisfactory for the casting of cannon, and the king ordered that it be used for ballast in ships returning from Havana, in order to furnish material for the Royal Spanish Navy. In 1580, some mining was done, but the find soon proved to be a pocket and not a true vein, and the cost of transportation to Havana was declared prohibitive, in spite of the fact that it showed a “fifth part good copper.” Other copper mines were afterwards reported in the neighborhood of Bayamo, near the southeastern center of the Province of Oriente. In May, 1587, although comparatively little copper had been taken from “El Cobre” mine, due largely to lack of food crops in the vicinity with which to supply the slaves, the Governor reported that “There is so much metal, and the mines are so numerous that they could supply the world with copper, and only lately there is news of a new mine of even better metal than the rest.” Effective work in these mines began in 1599. The much needed protection from the incursion of pirates and privateers, that had long preyed on Spain’s possessions in the West Indies, revived industries of all kinds in Cuba, especially copper mining and ship-building. Juan de Texeda, who had been commissioned by the King to go to Havana and do what he could towards protecting the rich shipments of gold that were being sent from Mexico to Spain against the attacks of the English Admiral, Drake, sampled Cuban copper and pronounced it excellent. On the site of the present Maestranza Building, now devoted to the Department of Public Works and the Public Library, Texeda soon established a foundry, where he “cast the copper into both cannon and kettles.” The mining of copper with profit depends on the price of the metal in the market and on the cost of extracting and transporting the ore to the smelter. This, of course, is true with all metals, hence it frequently happens that mines containing abundant ore are not worked, owing to the fact that the cost of production, when taken into consideration with the market price, eliminates the possibility of profit. During the past century the mines of “El Cobre” and vicinity, the extent of whose deposits seem to be almost unlimited, have been worked at such times and to such an extent as the market price of the ore would seem to justify.