In southern Bolivia, near the present-day town of Potosi, on April 1, 1545, the Spanish discovered silver in “them there hills!” The largest hill was quickly named “Cerro Rico” (rich hill), a town was founded nearby, and the Spanish began to excavate.
Spain built their colonial mint in Potosi and coins were minted as soon as the precious metal was removed from the mountain. The town continued to grow due to the nearby wealth and by the early 1600’s Potosi was the largest city in the Americas with over 200,000 people!
Of course, all of this wealth came at a price. The Spanish initially used indigenous slaves to mine the silver. In 1572, the Spanish passed a law that all slaves must work in 12 hour shifts. They would spend 4 months underground in the mines: eating, sleeping, and working in the mines. It’s no surprise that many died due to the unsafe working conditions or from silicosis pneumonia due to the mineral dust in the air. In order to maintain their work force, the Spanish began to import African slaves. Sadly, in 3 centuries of colonial rule (from 1545 to 1825), over 8 million African and indigenous Bolivians died in Potosi extracting silver for the Spanish.
By the 1800’s most of the silver had been extracted from the Cerro Rico and the population of Potosi decreased to about 10,000 people.
Today, Potosi and its mines paint a different picture. There is very little silver remaining but tin, zinc, lead, and other minerals have been found in the surrounding hills. The local miners have formed cooperatives – working together in small groups in the mines and sharing the profits from any metals or minerals found. Unfortunately, the conditions have not drastically changed since the colonial period. Safety standards are hit or miss with low ceilings, steep muddy passageways, noxious chemicals (silica, arsenic, acetylene vapors, and asbestos) and mineral dust. The mines currently have over 5 levels due to over 500 years of use and depending on which level is being worked temperatures range from below freezing to 115°F.
Sadly, many of the miners die from silicosis pneumonia within 15 years of starting work in the mines. (Although I’m happy to report that I spent time with one man, Miguel, who has safely worked in the mines for over 34 years.) Many of the cooperatives allow miners to retire when they have lost 50% of their lung capacity and the cooperative gives incapacitated miners the equivalent of about $15/month.
The miners are proud of their work. All of the extraction is done by hand, since they are financing their work themselves. In general, the miners work from 6am to 5pm 6 days per week and, on Saturdays, bring their weeks’ work to the local mineral companies to make their weeks’ wage, which is barely enough to put food on the table. But they show up each day hoping to find “the big one” – some leftover silver that would bring a huge profit!
While in Potosi, I took a tour of one of the mines with an ex-miner as my guide.
Interestingly, it wasn’t until recently that women were allowed in the mines. In Bolivia, Pachamama (Mother Earth) is highly respected and keeping her happy is a top priority. The miners believe that Pachamama becomes jealous when other women are in the mines and, when she is jealous, accidents can happen underground. Fortunately for me, now only miners wives are believed to invoke Pachamama’s jealousy.
On the way into the mine, the miners stop to make an offering to Tata Kaj’chu. He’s basically a representation of the devil (since the underground is his domain) but he’s called an “uncle ” and its his minerals they are taking. The miners give him offerings of coca, cigarettes, alcohol and other things to request his protection from danger while they’re underground.
Bolivia is 95% Catholic, but prayers and offerings to Jesus are only made when they are out of the mine and can again see daylight.
Once in the mine on my tour, I tried my hand at mining (I’m getting good with a pick axe – see my earlier blog about a salt mine: http://bothsidesnowblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/grain-of-salt.html). And I was even given live dynamite although I was a bit nervous handling this!
One final fact I learned: due to 500 years of extensive mining in the Cerro Rico, the mountain itself has diminished in height. Today, it is estimated to be over 500 feet shorter than before the mining began!
While I enjoyed going into the mine and trying my hand with a pickaxe, overall this experience was more humbling than anything else. The conditions were amazing to see in person and certainly made me see the appeal of a desk job. But the friendliness and positive spirit of the miners was an inspiration. Follow @reneestreet
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