 The mountains around Tegucigalpa were largely known to contain gold and silver deposits since Spanish settlement in the area, which led to the area being visited by fortune seekers from Central America and the United States, among other locations.In 1880, after successful negotiations with the fragile Honduran government, The New York and Honduras Rosario Mining Company was established in the US.The mining firm took a well-known mine in San Juancito, 40 km northeast of Tegucigalpa, and in the next decade produced three million dollars in silver and gold.