Potosi Encyclopedia.com

WebThis was the discovery of the silver mountain of Potosi. The mountain was renamed Cerro Rico. Cerro Rico is the reason for Potosí's historical importance, since it was the major supply of silver for Spain during the period of the New World Spanish Empire. Beginning in 1545 it soon produced fabulous wealth, and the population eventually ... During the sixteenth century the population of Potosi grew to over 200,000 and its silver mine became the source of 60% of the world’s silver. Between 1545 and 1810 Potosi’s silver contributed nearly 20% of all known silver produced in the world across 265 years. It was at the core of the Spanish Empire’s great … See more The great silver (and tin veins) of Bolivia’s Eastern Cordillera are the richest of both metals on the world. The “red mountain” is still producing silver, tin, zinc, lead, and other metals. The silver rich veins of the “Cerro Rico” are … See more The ore for amalgamation was crushed to a fine powder and mixed with water and mercury, salt, and impure copper sulfate. The muddy composite was spread out over a stone paved … See more At Potosi mining methods were primitive. Adits were dug into the side of the mountain in order to access the veins of silver ore. Conditions underground were harsh. The silver ore … See more A city was established there by the fifth viceroy of Peru, Francisco Alvarez de Toledo, in 1572, who called the new settlement “Vila Rica de Oropesa” after his title and his … See more lingonberry whole foods

WebA mountain of silver – History of International Relations. In a remote, dry and cold part of the high Andes, in today’s Bolivia, there is a mountain which the Incas knew as Sumaq Urqu and the Spaniards called Cerro Rico, “the rich mountain.”. As already the Incas had discovered, the mountain was rich in silver. WebIn 1545, the Potosi mines were discovered in the highlands of present-day Bolivia that contained silver in an abundance never imagined before. One year later similarly rich mines were discovered near Zacatecas, roughly 800 kilometers to the northwest of Mexico City. At the very same period, clever miners developed a new method of silver mining. WebWith the discovery of the richest silver mine in history in Spanish-controlled Peru, Europeans discovered they finally had something the Chinese desperately needed. The site of the mine, Potosí, became the most populated city in the Americas (150,000 people) and required the forced labor of thousands of Indians to produce its precious metal. lingonberry usa