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Potosí Silver Mining Boom

Type Event Region Americas Time 1560–1569

In the 1560s, the Potosí silver mines on the Bolivian plateau entered full boom, becoming one of the world's largest silver sources.

Timeline

  1. 1561–1570Potosí · PotosíPotosí's silver output continued to climb in the 1560s, with the veins of Cerro Rico attracting large numbers of Spanish adventurers and Indian laborers. Within this decade, traditional silver smelting technology had already produced enough to alter imperial finances, laying the groundwork for the later full spread of the amalgamation process.
  2. 1560–1569Potosí · PotosíThe colonial authorities extended the mita forced labor system to Potosí, conscripting Indians from communities across the Peruvian and Bolivian highlands into the underground mines. The high altitude, harsh conditions, and high mortality made mita the most controversial and critical labor source of the decade.
  3. 1561–1570Lima–Panama–Seville route · PeruIn the 1560s, Potosí silver was minted in Lima, shipped to the Isthmus of Panama, and then transferred to Spain. The royal quinto tax and merchant networks made Potosí silver a core source of funding for Philip II's wars in the Mediterranean and the Low Countries.

Sources