Notable case, Cerro de Pasco, Pasco, Peru
Cerro de Pasco
A mining city at 4,330 metres with about 59,000 inhabitants (2017), with an open pit for silver, copper, zinc and lead about 2 km long. Lead and cadmium pollution has caused a public health crisis there.
At a glance
- Status
- Not addressed
- Activity
- since 1630
- People affected
- 58,899 (2017)2
- Media
- soil, surface water, air
- Kind of site
- mining
- Area. The open pit is about 2 km long and nearly 400 m deep.
- People affected. Population of the city at the 2017 census.
Contaminants
Status
Not addressed
The mine is active and the 2006 law on relocating the city has not been implemented. The sources consulted give no recent quantitative data on contamination: the record needs completing from Peruvian sources (MINSA, OEFA).
Story
Silver has been mined at Cerro de Pasco since 1630. In 1902 the company that became the Cerro de Pasco Copper Corporation was formed; it introduced open-pit mining in place of underground working. Nationalised in 1974 as Centromin Perú, the operation was sold in September 1999 to Compañía Minera Volcan.
The Patarcocha lagoon in the city centre is badly polluted, and the former Quiulacocha lagoon became a tailings deposit, for which there is a project to recover metals. In 2006 a law provided for the evacuation and relocation of the city, which never happened.
Timeline
- 1630Silver mining begins.
- 1902The company that became the Cerro de Pasco Copper Corporation is formed.
- 1974Nationalisation (Centromin Perú).
- 1999Sold to Compañía Minera Volcan.
- 2006Law on relocating the city.
Health
Wikipedia reports a public health crisis caused by heavy-metal pollution (lead, cadmium) without giving figures; the studies of children's blood lead were not consulted.
From the literature
Species that acted on one of this site's contaminants in at least one study. The list is automatic and takes no account of this site's soil, concentrations or climate.
Plants
- Agrostis capillarisCommon bentEvidence: field
- Arabidopsis halleriHaller's rockcressEvidence: field
- Cannabis sativaIndustrial hempEvidence: field
- Festuca rubraRed fescueEvidence: field
- Noccaea caerulescensAlpine pennycressEvidence: field
- Populus albaWhite poplarEvidence: field
Fungi
- Rhizophagus irregularisEvidence: greenhouse
- Paxillus involutusBrown roll-rimEvidence: greenhouse
- Aspergillus nigerBlack mouldEvidence: laboratory
- Suillus luteusSlippery jackEvidence: laboratory
- Agaricus bisporusButton mushroomEvidence: laboratory
- Mucor circinelloidesEvidence: laboratory
The rest are on the contaminant pages.
Nearby
Sources
- Cerro de Pasco, Wikipedia, 2026
- Cerro de Pasco, Wikipedia (es), 2026
Draft compiled from public sources, not yet reviewed.