This chapter is basically descriptive. It sets out to account for some of the more interesting institutions that were imposed on, and developed by, the miners of Zacatecas and its district in their efforts to extract the mineral wealth of their region, and to show the circumstances in which they worked. It is concerned, therefore, with what a French historian would undoubtedly call the structures of mining – for example, the connection between mining and land-ownership; systems of labour; mining technique; and the supply of raw materials. These subjects will be dealt with as discrete topics, and it is hoped that the inevitable ensuing loss of continuity will be compensated for by a gain in clarity. A preliminary qualification about the range of the discussion must also be made. What follows is intended to be an account of mining in the whole district of Zacatecas – that is, embracing both the city and the various lesser mining towns for which it acted as a centre. But to a large extent, specific reference will be made only to Zacatecas itself, and its mines and miners. The basic reason for thus limiting the view is simply that little information is available about the smaller towns. In any case, it is fairly clear that concentration on Zacatecas itself can lead to observations and conclusions which are valid for the whole region, merely because the evidence that is available indicates that conditions in the city (with certain exceptions, which will be obvious) were representative of those obtaining in the surrounding smaller towns.