Potosi - a history

Cerro Rico. The towering mountain over Potosi reaches 4824 meters above sea level. It wasn’t always like this though. Cerro Rico used to stand at 5200 meters. Hundreds of years of heavy mining have produced so many collapses that the mountain has literally shrank in size.

Why do I want to talk about Cerro Rico? What is so special about this mountain? Cerro Rico is arguably the most famous silver mine in history. That’s why.

Cerro Rico was “discovered” (the indigenous people always knew of its existence) in 1544 by the Spanish after a local llama herder, Diego Huallpa, built a fire at the foot of the mountain known in Quechua as “Potoxsi” (meaning “thunder” or “explosion”). The fire grew so hot that the very earth beneath it started to melt, and shiny liquid oozed from the ground. Now there is some confusion as to why Diego Huallpa decided to alert the Spanish of this news, since local Inca customs prevented the exploitation of the mountain which was considered sacred. Anyway, news reached the gold-crazed Spaniards who investigated the area and founded the town of Potosi in 1545.

The gruesome history of Potosi was about to be written.

Large-scale excavation began in earnest. Thousands of indigenous slaves were pressed into service and the first silver coins were headed for Spain. Over the years the Spaniards imported thousands of African slaves to augment the labour force.

Work conditions were horrifying. Slaves were working “shifts” that lasted for four months. Four months without ever seeing the sun. The slaves simply ate, slept and worked in the mine around-the-clock. Of course life expectancy in the mine was reduced to a few years as the slaves died in droves as a result of exposure to noxious gases and chemicals such as silica dust (the cause of silicosis), arsenic gas, acetylene vapors, as well as asbestos deposits and mercury poisoning. Millions of Indigenous people died from exposure and brutal labour.

The mountain consumed such a massive quantity of human flesh that historians put Potosi right the centre of the massive demographic collapse of Indigenous people in the 16^th and 17^th centuries. At the same time the population of Potosi ballooned and the city started to require massive food support from the surrounding regions. In fact Potosi grew so big that it was probably the biggest city in the world in 1625 with 160 000 thousand people. At that time London had 100 000 people and Paris less than 80 000.

Meanwhile the Spanish kingdom enjoyed the luxury related with thousands of tons of gold and silver pouring into the empire (a staggering 41 000 metric tons of pure silver was extracted from Potosi alone between 1545 and 1783). So much gold and silver reached the shores of the empire starting from 1545 that Spain was able to build the most powerful navy (“Armada”) in the world. Another consequence of all this silver and gold flooding Europe was that the continent experienced severe deflation for two centuries, as the price of gold and silver cratered and brought all prices down with them.

Mining at Cerro Rico continues to this day. Nowadays zinc, lead, and tin are being extracted in greater quantities than silver. This does not prevent miners from trying to find a rich vein in silver that may allow them to retire early. Cerro Rico has also become a premier destination for tourists as they descend into the abyss to explore the tunnels of the mine with the most terrifying history of this world. Ania and I have put on our security gear and have decided to find a rich silver vein for ourselves. Have we been successful?

I’ll let you know in my next post.