What is Potosi famous for?

Potosí is a mining town famous for the incredible riches that have been cut out of the Cerro Rico Mountain ever since 1545, when the Spaniards began with large-scale excavation.

What happened at Potosi?

Thousands of the indigenous people were forced to work at the mines, where many perished through accidents, brutal treatment, or poisoning by the mercury used in the extraction process. Around 30,000 African slaves were also brought to the city, where they were forced to work and die as human mules.

How many miners died at Potosi?

eight million people
It is believed that eight million people have died in the mines of Potosi, most of them either natives or African slaves. They used to be trapped underground for six months at a time, where they worked 20 hours a day.

How many people died in Spanish silver mines?

eight million
The mine at Potosi became the world’s biggest after silver was discovered there by the Spanish in 1545. African and indigenous slaves worked the mines – it is estimated as many as eight million may have died.

Did African slaves work in silver mines?

Few enslaved Africans were used in the silver mines in Peru. The mines were high in the mountains, and the cost of feeding and clothing slaves in this isolated and cold area would be too high. Africans were not used to the lack of oxygen in the air at that altitude, and did not work well.

Why did Spain want silver?

Spaniards at the time of the Age of Exploration discovered vast amounts of silver, much of which was from the Potosí silver mines, to fuel their trade economy. Potosí’s deposits were rich and Spanish American silver mines were the world’s cheapest sources of it.

Is there still silver in Potosi?

Geology. Located in the Bolivian Tin Belt, Cerro Rico de Potosí is the world’s largest silver deposit and has been mined since the sixteenth century, producing up to 60,000 tonnes by 1996. Estimates are that much silver still remains in the mines.

What is the average lifespan of a Cerro Rico miner?

Today about 15,000 miners work on the mountain, and the local widows’ association says 14 women are widowed each month. Average life expectancy is 40.

What did they find at Cerro Rico?

Silver, tin and zinc were first extracted by Quechua labourers forced by the Spanish to work under conditions so horrific that Cerro Rico became known as “the mountain that eats men”.

Why did the Chinese want silver?

China and the demand for silver China had a high demand for silver due to its shift from paper money to coins in the early period of the Ming Dynasty. Hence silver became of high value because it was a valid currency that could be processed abroad.

How did silver affect the world?

Eventually, this trade had profound effects on West African society: It reoriented trade routes toward the coast rather than across the Sahara, which led to the decline of interior states. It also led to an increasing traffic in humans to work, among other places, in the silver mines of the Americas.

How many people have died in Cerro Rico?

During the Spanish Colonial era, two billion ounces of silver was extracted from the mountain. Over the same period about eight million people are estimated to have died, earning Cerro Rico the nickname, the Mountain that Eats Men.

What was the name of the silver mine in Peru?

This is your silver mine called Potosí.” Another Spaniard, Rodrigo de Loaisa, described the typical weeklong stint in the mines: “The Indians enter these infernal pits by some leather ropes like staircases Once inside, they spend the whole week in there without emerging, working with tallow candles. They are in great danger inside there

Where are the silver mines in Potosi Bolivia?

But even an elevation as high as this does not stop the nearby Cerro Potosí from dominating the surrounding landscape. Also known as Cerro Rico (Spanish for “Rich Mountain”), the peak’s huge supply of silver has led to both immense riches and appalling suffering.

When was the silver rush in Potosi Peru?

Silver ore was serendipitously discovered at Potosí by an Indian yanacona (servant) named Diego Gualpa in 1545. Within a few years there had commenced a vast silver rush, which peaked in the 1590s, after which silver production underwent a gradual decline, though the mines continued to be worked throughout the colonial period.

How was silver extracted from the Andes Mountains?

The silver was then extracted from the ore through amalgamation with mercury, known also as the patio process. The extracted silver was then molded into bars (or coins known as ‘pieces of eight’ after 1598) and stamped with the mark of the Royal Mint.