Merchants and Golden River Ports: Reassessing the Role of Caribbean New Granada in Imperial Bullion Flows, 1740–1832

Abstract The essay provides a reassessment of mining production in late colonial and early republican New Granada by studying gold smelting in Mompox, the largest inland river port of northern South America. By analyzing previously unexplored treasury logbooks, the article argues that, parallel to the illegal gold outflows from Mompox, a significant stream of gold bars reached international markets via legal networks that tied this river port with outlets in Havana and beyond. The river port smelted 12–20 percent of New Granada's gold production, a sizable amount that historians have not included in their estimates. These numbers reflect the importance of placer mining in Caribbean New Granada and northeastern Antioquia Province, for which the essay offers new evidence to understand its geological, labor, network, and financial structures. Mompox's smelting house was destroyed during the independence wars, strengthening Medellín's role as the main pivot of New Granada's gold trade in the early republican years.