Prior to 1870, Mina was formerly named Barrio Mantugaui under the jurisdiction of Pototan. On June 20, 1864, a league of influential citizens and inhabitants of this Barrio, officially pleaded to His Excellency the Quartermaster General of the Visayas to elevate this barrio into a new town independent of its matrix of Pototan to be named “Pueblo de Molto”. The reasons why there was a petition to elevate said barrio into a pueblo, were due to: (1) great distance between the town and the barrio; (2) during those times, the residents of the said barrio had difficulty travelling to Pototan when they want to hear mass on required days; (3) when some barrio folks fell ill due to some pestilence and eventually died without receiving the Sacrament of Extreme Unction for the good of their souls. For a predominantly-Catholic inhabitants of this barrio, receiving and getting blessed with the sacraments as taught by the church, were important. (4) Another case in point was those women who suffered complications and died during childbirth had no chance of receiving the final sacrament, and (5) their infants often died without being baptized. It was for these reasons, that the leaders sought the approval of His Excellency praying that their request would be granted. July 30, 1864 - The Parish Priest and the Principales of Pototan endorsed to the Political-Military Government of Iloilo the required sketch and lists of more than a thousand tax payers and sixteen Cabezas de Barangay, informing the need of elevating Barrio Mantugaui into a town. Likewise to also elevate this petition to the superior knowledge of His Excellency the Governor General of the Philippines for his royal resolution/decision.