Abangares Costa Rica Real Estate

The Canton of Abangares has been mining country since 1885 but it was only declared a Canton in 1915. The conditions of the miners were harsh and cruel, if not inhumane, and many died due to the poor safety measures that were in fact quite non-existent! These appalling conditions were the cause of the very first strike of Costa Rica that took place in 1912.

The mine was built directly on a gold processing plant. The main mining district was the Sierra de Abangares, where Keith Minor Cooper placed the gold processing plant Abangares in the mountains of Tilaran called the Gold Fields of Costa Rica. Gold mining also appeared in another district of Abangares called Las Juntas, where he developed various mines. The workers got together on the weekends to drink and play poker, thus the name of Las Juntas, “Get Together”.

The Tres Hermanos Mine, a subsidiary of Ariel Resources LTD from Canada has been the canton’s major producers of gold and silver for many years. In 2001 the company abandoned the operation for lack of production and filed for bankruptcy while still owing its workers two months of salary. Today, more than 300 impoverished families have to make a meager living while employed by some local collective operating a small mine.

Today the main attraction is the mining museum of La Sierra de Abangares. The museum shows artifacts dating from the boom of the gold mining days of Costa Rica; there you can see an outdoor exhibition of the mining machinery, old photographs and old railways. It explains how the mining was done in general and it is rather well presented. Further up you will find the ruins of the Forme Mazos building where 100 tons of gold was crushed daily. The ruins actually resemble some indigenous archeological site. There is a children's play area and some picnic spots are scattered on the grounds along the trails where bird watching is also very popular.

The name Abangares originally derives from Avancari meaning“Water God”; it was the name of the chief of the Nahuatl tribe who lived in the region.

The region produces rice, sorghum, beans and in the lower parts of the country there is of course cattle produced for beef and dairy products. Fishing is also a very important activity throughout the Nicoya Peninsula, however mining continues to expand and is now looking closely at the foreign investors.

Las Juntas is dangerously closed to the Abangares River and unfortunately it regularly floods the little town.  Though the climate is typically dry and tropical in some places it can get chilly, especially in the higher mountains of the Sierra de Tilaran.

Abangares can be reached by taking the Pan-American Highway that runs across the whole canton. There is a paved road that runs from Las Juntas to Puerto Yglesias, and then from Omonal to Puerto Moreno, from there you take the Ferry Tempisque Ferry.