Notable case, Potosí, Potosí, Bolivia
Cerro Rico, Potosí
Cerro Rico
The silver mountain worked since 1545, the source of 80% of the world's silver between the 16th and 18th centuries. From the 1500s the ore was processed by amalgamation with mercury; today it yields mainly tin and zinc.
At a glance
- Status
- Not addressed
- Activity
- since 1545
- People affected
- 15,000 (2019)1
- Media
- soil, air
- Kind of site
- mining
- People affected. Miners working in the mountain (estimate reported by Wikipedia; the year is indicative).
Contaminants
Metals
Status
Not addressed
The mountain is still worked by about 15,000 miners, most of them in cooperatives; the summit keeps subsiding by a few centimetres a year. The sources consulted give no measurements of soil or water contamination: the record needs completing.
Story
The deposit was discovered in 1545. When the richest ores ran out around 1565, miners turned to the patio process, which uses mercury to extract silver from low-grade ore, and from 1574 to the forced labour of the mita; mercury poisoning was widespread among indigenous workers.
By 2019 output was mostly tin and zinc. Miners breathe dust without adequate protection and develop silicosis; their life expectancy is about 40 years. In 2011 a sinkhole opened near the summit and was filled with ultra-light cement, and in 2014 UNESCO placed the site on its List in Danger.
Timeline
- 1545The deposit is discovered.
- 1574The mita, indigenous forced labour, is reintroduced.
- 2011Sinkhole near the summit.
- 2014Placed on UNESCO's List of World Heritage in Danger.
Health
Widespread silicosis among miners, with life expectancy around 40 years (Wikipedia). Historically, mercury poisoning among amalgamation workers.
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
- Eichhornia crassipesWater hyacinthEvidence: field
- Azolla carolinianaCarolina mosquito fernEvidence: laboratory
Fungi
- Aspergillus nigerBlack mouldEvidence: laboratory
- Rhodotorula taiwanensisEvidence: laboratory
- Boletus edulisKing bolete, porciniEvidence: survey of wild specimens
Nearby
Sources
- Cerro Rico, Wikipedia, 2026
Draft compiled from public sources, not yet reviewed.