Potosí (Cerro Rico)

포토시 (세로 리코)

Cerro Rico, Spanish for Rich Mountain, is a mountain in the Andes next to the city of Potosí in Bolivia. It is famous because it was the richest source of silver in history. Its slopes are largely bare, and from far away it looks like a reddish cone above the city.

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At a glance

Country: Bolivia
Location: Potosí, Bolivia
Built: 1545

Quick answers

Where is Potosí (Cerro Rico)?

Potosí (Cerro Rico) is in Potosí, Bolivia.

When was Potosí (Cerro Rico) built?

Potosí (Cerro Rico) was built in 1545.

The red Cerro Rico, once the richest silver mine on earth, above the Casa de la Moneda where its silver was struck into coins.

Mining there began in 1545 under the Spanish Empire. From the 16th to the 18th century, about 80 percent of the world's silver supply came from this mountain, and the city of Potosí grew into one of the largest in the New World. Today mining continues, and UNESCO has placed the site on its list of endangered sites.

How much silver was there?

It is estimated that about 85 percent of the silver produced in the central Andes in the colonial period came from Cerro Rico. Most of it was shipped to Spain. After centuries of digging, including the removal of the mountain's top in the first century of mining, the hill reached its present shape in the 17th century.

The mountain's other name, Sumaq Urqu, comes from the Quechua words for beautiful and mountain.

What is happening to the mountain?

The mountain is still mined today, mostly by mining cooperatives working in underground mines and in a larger open-pit mine. About 15,000 miners work there, though conditions are hard and many get a lung illness called silicosis from breathing dust.

In 2011 a sinkhole appeared near the top and had to be filled with light cement, and the summit keeps sinking a few centimetres each year. In 2014 UNESCO listed the site as endangered because of uncontrolled mining.

Fun facts

Potosí, at about 4,070 m, is one of the highest cities in the world.
Tradition says Simón Bolívar waved a flag from the summit, and a coat of arms adopted afterwards shows a condor, an alpaca and Cerro Rico.
About 80 percent of the world's silver once came from this mountain.
The summit sinks by a few centimetres every year.