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Today’s miners are independent contractors responsible for providing their own supplies. Little shops sell everything from coca leaves to chew on to ward off fatigue to dynamite.

Potosí (elev. 4,090m/13,420ft) [for comparison: Lhasa, Tibet, at 3,658m/12,001ft] was founded in 1545 as a mining town at the foot of Rich Hill (Cerro Rico), the world’s largest silver deposit. An estimated 60% of all silver mined in the world during the second half of the 16th century came from Potosí which was reputed to be the world’s largest industrial complex at the time. Its population eventually exceeded 200,000 people, making it one of the largest cities in the world. Most of the mining and smelting (using mercury) was done by forced labor, both indigenous people and African slaves. As many as 8 million workers are estimated to have died between 1545 and 1825. Output began to decline in the early 19th century. By the 1890s, low silver prices prompted a shift to mining tin. Growing demand for tin this century by the electronics industry has helped the local economy. Silver extraction continues on a small scale.

Miguel de Cervantes’ novel “Don Quixote” describes Potosí as a land of “extraordinary richness” (chapter 71 in the second volume which was published in 1615).