Metallurgical coal mining started in the late 1800s thanks to the work of the first generation of the current partners of C.I. MILPA S.A., as well as other families, who sold the coal extracted from the mines located in the Municipality of Samacá to the first steel mill of Colombia “Ferrería Samacá”. It was founded in the 1850s by English technicians Martin Perry and Santiago Bruce and managed by Jose Eusebio Otalora, and nowadays the mill is part of the architectural heritage of Boyacá. It ceased operations in 1884 due to financial difficulties and later on, in the 1900s, a dam broke, which destroyed the entire industrial complex.
Years later, in 1889, “Textiles Samacá”, the first textile company of Colombia, of British origins, was created and it closed in 1964. It opened the way for industrialization in Colombia and produced the famous “Manta Samacá”, which was catalogued as one of the best fabrics of that time. As a result of this second industrial development, the first thermoelectric coal-based plant was created in Samacá, called “Electrificadora de Boyacá”. It provided sufficient lighting for textile company and the remaining for the city of Tunja and thanks to this, Colombian coal and coke production is still carried out today with the SECOND GENERATION of what is today called C.I. MILPA S.A.
Later on, in the 1950s, thanks to the initiative by the Colombian Government, the “Empresa Siderurgica Nacional de Paz del Río” was created, subsequently called “Acerías Paz del Rio S.A.”, which initiated iron and coal mining in Boyacá. As a consequence of coal coking in Samacá, the THIRD GENERATION of C.I. MILPA S.A. is born.
After years of hard work, “INVERSIONES MILPA LTDA” was constituted in 1983, and today it is called “COMECIALIZADORA INTERNACIONAL MILPA S.A.” (FOURTH GENERATION). In 1991 and without having the proper infrastructure, MILPA achieves an incursion in the international market, to the point where it was granted the gold medal at an international fair due to the high quality of the Colombian coal and coke produced by MILPA, which also allowed the incursion in 25 new countries, including Brazil, Argentina, India, USA, Germany, and Italy among others.