Industrial patrimony

After the extraction of the caliche, the mineral was carried to the milling and grounded. In the so- called "cachuchos" (iron tanks) it was then heated by way of steam. This produced the dissolution or lixviation The material that was obtained was a saturation of sodium nitrate, and had to be cleared in iron tanks called "chulladores" were the essence was decanted.

What came through was pumped to big tanks were one could obtain the "sodic saltpeter"; a new pouring off resulted in what was the "potassium saltpeter". The remains were used in the making of other salts, such as iodine.

In Santa Laura one can still see the main industrial structures of a Schanks saltpeter work. There is the milling tank (made of stone, wood or zinc), in which there are three "chancadoras". There's also a big structure made of pine-wood pillars and beams, which sustains the tanks; and also a large chimney (40 mts. tall). It can be considered to be the most typical of the Santa Laura constructions, and has become an important site in the middle of Pampa's arid landscape.

The so called "iodine house" still keeps some of the tools then used. There's also a building with offices, workshops, and a big room that was then used as a factory. A huge tank for the remains still stands, taking up about 300,000 square meters. There's also remains of the railway tracks that used to connect Santa Laura and Humberstone by way of the "saltpeter train".

The Santa Laura human settlement has been almost completely destroyed. One can see no more than the school and very few houses. There are also some traces of the main square and sports field, as well as the management office and the park that used to be right by its side.

There's big damage in the industrial buildings at Humberstone, but some traces allow us to figure out how life used to be here, considering an urban planning and design based on the concepts then developed by the new architectural movements (post-Industrial Revolution).

One is able to see what was then the office's social, commercial and public center. The chapel has been restored, and there's also a shopping area built with decorative white arches, as well as a magnificent theater built on wood. The former hotel has also been restored and now serves as a restaurant. There's also the remains of what used to be a social club, a large pool, the school and the main square. Some of these are restored, and some are already in the process of being fixed. Most of them still keep the original furniture, such as the theater's armchairs, the shops' counter and shelves, or the hotel's large iron kitchen.

The management house, built in 1833, is very typical of the British style. There's only two of them left: the one at Humberstone and that at Iris. At the entrance of Humberstone one sees the former houses of workers. Their conservation state is far from ideal, but they offer an excellent example of how the Pampa camp used to be, built in adobe and partition walls, and settled like a chessboard. The huge waste-tank by the office speaks of a time of great wealth, built with the effort of these now gone people.