Potosí Silver Mine

Timeline

1. 1400–1532Andean highlands · AndesIndigenous peoples of the Andes, especially groups under the Inca Empire, had centuries of silver mining and smelting traditions; silver was mainly used for religious objects and royal adornment rather than currency. The Incas regarded silver as the 'sweat of the moon' and gold as the 'tears of the sun,' both sacred substances. Through the labor draft system (mit'a) the Inca Empire mobilized workers to mine various minerals, accumulating vast treasures that later became the main targets of Spanish plunder.
2. 1511–1520Caribbean colonies and the Isthmus of Panama · CaribbeanBetween 1511 and 1520, Spanish conquerors forced indigenous people to mine gold and silver on Hispaniola (Haiti), Cuba, and Puerto Rico, systematically exploiting native labor through the encomienda system. In 1513 Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific for the first time, learning from the Indians along the way of legends of an extremely rich 'land of gold' to the south. The mining experience and institutional frameworks accumulated in this period directly laid the technical and organizational foundations for the later large-scale development of the Potosí silver mine.
3. 1545–1650Cerro Rico · BoliviaIn 1545 the Spanish discovered the enormous silver veins of Cerro Rico ('Rich Mountain') in the Andean highlands. The colonial authorities then revived the Inca mit'a labor draft, conscripting indigenous people into the mines, and in 1572 introduced mercury amalgamation refining to greatly increase output. At its peak (c. 1580–1620) Potosí became one of the largest cities in the New World with 150,000 inhabitants, producing hundreds of tons of silver annually, shipped via Lima, Peru to Seville and flowing to China through the Manila galleon trade, deeply driving the global monetary economy, triggering Europe's 'Price Revolution,' with effects lasting centuries.