The School of Mining Engineering was the first that from the day of its foundation had a civil character. It was established in 1777 by the orders of King Charles III of Spain in Almadén, Ciudad Real, where already some type of informal teaching existed, in order to make use of a very important element: the mercury mines. Mercury was in those days an irreplaceable material for the amalgamation of silver, which was one of the key sources of wealth in Latin America, especially in Mexico. This School started its activities in a similar historical context to that of other centres such as those in Saxony (Freiberg 1767), Hungary (Schmnitz 1770) and France (Paris 1778).