The economy in Mestanza was based on mining and grazing with occasional help from hunting. Mining is focused mainly on coal mining from the late nineteenth century until the mid-twentieth century (in nearby town Puertollano) and in the silver mineral galena (lead and silver) in the valley or El Hoyo and Solanilla del Tamaral, leading to the creation of a new parish district, Las Navas de Riofrío, near the new mining locations, later abandoned in 1927.
