By Rylie Neely, Alex Preso, Ethan Kelner, and Hannah Van Dusen
Overview
Silver, Ag, is a metallic element found in the Earth’s crust. “Of all the metals [silver has] the highest optical reflectivity, and the highest thermal and electrical conductivity” (Hilliard). “Native” silver can be found in the earth’s crust in its pure periodic element form, but most silver is “produced as a byproduct of copper, gold, lead, and zinc refining” (Wikipedia), and thus is produced at mines for these minerals.
Silver has been traced back as being separated from lead as early as 3000 BC and its uses have been mentioned as early as in the biblical story of Genesis. Historically, silver has been considered a precious metal and is used in jewelry, cutlery, mirrors, and as monetary value. Silver is also used in photographic print paper and electronic devices. Because silver is a fairly expensive mineral and is used to make luxury goods, its primary consumers are people in affluent countries.
The mining of silver can have very consequential environmental and health impacts. For instance, the mined area suffers from air and noise pollution, soil degradation and contamination, deforestation, potential loss of biodiversity, and water pollution and depletion. Though these effects seem to be very negative, it is important to understand that in most cases the nearby civilizations and local people do not experience these negative impacts on a daily basis.
Potosí, Bolivia
In the city of Potosí in Bolivia, legend tells of a local Inca man named Diego Huallpa, who, in searching for his escaped llama, built a fire to stay warm on the mountain Cerro Rico, just south of the city. In search of his lost llama, he made a fire to stay warm, and as his fire grew hotter, the ground beneath him began to melt and a shiny silver liquid began oozing from the earth. Thus, the discovery of the silver mines of Cerro Rico in Potosí began. Although the legend of Potosí’s origins has likely become more myth than fact over the centuries, it remains a story that has been passed down for generations. Upon its discovery in 1545, the Spanish Empire came to Potosí and began rapidly extracting this rare mineral, quickly making Potosí the second largest city in all the Americas at the time. Their mines produced massive amounts of silver and wealth and entirely funded the Spanish Empire for generations. It was said that “the Spanish could have constructed a silver bridge to Spain and still had silver left to carry across it.” The city also coined the Spanish term, “vale un Potosi,” (to be worth a Potosí) meaning “to have great value.”
The city of Potosí is one of the highest elevation cities in the world, located at 13,420 ft. For nearly 212 years the Spanish colonial mint (Casa de la Moneda) was located in this city, because it sits just north of the infamous Cerro Rico mountain (rich mountain), where most of the silver extraction took place. The Spanish Empire settled the city in 1545 upon the discovery of the silver mines, and began immediate and rapid extraction of the rare mineral in Cerro Rico.
In order to extract the silver from the mountain, many local Native Americans were forced to work in the mines. Some of these workers were slaves, held against their will, some were contracted workers (mingas), a majority were free wage earners making a living, and a small minority of the people working in the mines were mitayos, Inca people taking part in the Inca mit’a system of contributional labor. However, conditions were tough. At such a high elevation pneumonia was very common, and serious injuries and death in the mines occurred frequently. By 1600 there was such a lack of local laborers that a formal request to the Spanish Crown in Madrid was made, asking for the importation of African slaves. Their request was granted and an estimated 30,000 African slaves were taken to work in the mines of Potosí. Unfortunately, they too died in great numbers. It is estimated today that around 8 million people died working in the mines of Cerro Rico. As the years passed, control of Potosí changed between the Spanish Empire and the nation several times.
As you can see, the mountain Cerro Rico holds great historical, cultural, and physical value. Today the mountain still provides work for over 15,000 local people which helps generate revenue for the city, but it has become weakened by centuries of mining and is showing signs of collapse. In response to this, a $2.4 million dollar government funded project has been granted in order to reinforce and save the iconic mountain. Cerro Rico is depicted on the national currency and the national shield, and held with great respect and retains powerful meaning. The beautiful mountain stands at the edge of the city, as a constant reminder to the people of the history behind the city of Potosí. Although Cerro Rico represents great wealth, it also serves as a reminder to the immense suffering of the local people and African American slaves who died mining in it, thus earning its name today, “The Mountain that Eats Men.”
Mount Isa, Australia
Australia has the largest silver resource in the world. Mount Isa Mines Limited (MIM) is located in west Queensland, Australia located outside the city of Mount Isa. This mine produced silver, lead, zinc, and copper. As well as producing lead-silver ore, the MIM is involved with smelting and refining the metals. The land surrounding Mt. Isa was inhabited by the Kalkadoon tribe who were subsistence hunters and gathers. Looked down upon by white settlers, the tribe lead a successful guerrilla warfare against the white settlers. Legend has it that John Campbell Miles, a miner, stumbled upon the silver reserves in Mt. Isa, but in reality, he was lead by a Kalkadoon indigenous man to the reserves. Soon after Campbell’s discovering of silver in Mt. Isa in 1923, following a post office and hospital, the town was soon built. Campbell is credited as the founder of the town, and his ashes are buried underneath a statue, a common tourist destination, in the middle of the town of Mount Isa.
In northeast Australia, the climate is semi-arid climate. During the months of December to March, the weather is very hot and humid due to temperatures ranges from 70-110 F and the monsoons. The northern hemisphere’s summer months are cooler and have lower monthly rainfall. During the cool month of August, Mount Isa hosts the Rodeo and Mardi Gras, drawing tourists from all parts of Australia.
The town of Mount Isa has approximately 22,000 people, and its buildings are separated by “mineside” and “townside.” Many of the oldest suburbs and schools are located “mineside,” closer to MIM. Due to a mining boom in the 1960s, the city has increased its construction of suburbs and infrastructure into “townside.” Mount Isa has 5% fewer men than women, but in 2008 the former mayor John Molony drew international press when he said that Mount Isa was “not so attractive” women to live in, due to the majority of males from the mining industry.
The main water source for Mount Isa is the man-made lake: Lake Moondarra. Lake Moondarra was created in 1958 to power the mine. Now the lake provides not only still provides power to the mine and refining factories, but also drinking water for the city, and popular watersports, although in recent years water regulations have been enforced because of lowering water levels due to a drought.
The main industry in Mount Isa is the Mount Isa Mines Limited owned by Glencore Xstrata plc. Since Campbell’s “discovery” in 1924, the mine has developed revolutionary copper refining techniques, mechanizing the laborious work, and the ISASMELT, which proved to be a more energy efficient smelting. In the late 1980s, MIM continued to build more smelt stacks and copper mills. MIM mined 2,140 koz of silver in 2014 (Hilliard). Whereas copper and lead ingots are smelted on site, the lead ores are transported to England where the silver is extracted in a refinery.
Mount Isa has some of the strictest air pollution regulations due to the close proximity of the mine and its sulfur dioxide emissions. The sulfur dioxide emissions and mining waste lead contamination of land and water. In 2008, a Queensland study released findings that children in Mount Isa had approximately 10% lead in their bloodstream. Glencore Xstrata denied responsibility annually publishing a sustainability and community report.
Luoyang, China
The silver trade has played a shaping role in the Chinese economy, and could even be considered the catalyst for the beginning of a global economy as it has had such profound economic impacts all over the world. After the discovery of the Potosí silver mines in Bolivia, the Spanish began to lead the world in silver trading, with 30% of it ending up in China through British trade for China’s exotic commodities.
China dominated silver imports, placing an extremely high value on silver. Eventually silver backed all of China’s economy, being used as coinage and tax payments. However, the increasing supply of silver led to inflation of the price, eventually causing the collapse of the Ming Dynasty.
Later, China switched from being the dominant silver importer to being the world’s fourth-largest silver producer in 2002. Since then, China’s production has been steadily increasing, and as of 2016, China was the world’s third-largest silver producer, outputting 3,600 MT. This increase can largely be attributed to China’s development of other mining operations. In 2012, 95% of Chinese silver was a byproduct of other mining projects. This is exemplified by the fact that one of China’s largest silver mines is Jiangxi Copper, the largest copper producer in mainland China.
China’s largest primary silver producer is Silvercorp Metals, a Canadian mining company with several mining locations in China. One of this company’s primary mines is located near Zhengzhou, the capital of the Henan Province, and the city of Luoyang, but it is over 100 km away from both of these cities, so it has limited immediate impact on the people here. The project areas are operated year-round and located along a fault-line between two large continental tectonic plates. Gold, lead, and zinc are also extracted from this site.
Today, China’s economy is dependent on its internal ability to produce, and this has resulted in low environmental and health standards in order to maximize production capabilities. China’s rapid industrialization with few limits has led to an environmental crisis in the country, causing many negative health effects for the country as well as its natural areas. For example, as exemplified by the capital city of Beijing which is usually shadowed by thick smog, China is experiencing severe air pollution. This low air quality leads to the deaths of thousands of Chinese citizens across the country every day. Another extreme issue is China’s water pollution, as factories dump tons of waste into the country’s rivers and water sources, which has caused many of the waterways to turn red, yellow, and green from the toxic chemicals and subsequent algae blooms. As clean water sources become fewer in number, water scarcity is becoming a more serious issue within China, threatening its population.
Chañarcillo, Chile
Chile has historically been a country filled with a powerful and innovative culture driven by tribes under the Incan Empire. The discovery of Silver influenced a rush of culture and urbanism to the area of Copiapó. Historically, The Mapuche and Diaguita inhabit the peaks and valleys of a mountainous, green and breathtaking environment. Both of the indigenous tribes have separate traditions that carved the mountains and valleys with spirit. The Mapuche played chants and melodies through the horns of animals, hollow wooden blocks played like flutes or stretched animal skin beat with mallets and bells. They would share legends about the great flood in which two godly serpents fought over the land and water, one serpent protecting the people and migrating them to the mountains where their culture flourished. The Diaguita have a completely separate culture, socially separated by different customs and geological barriers. The Diaguita Inhabited the valleys and utilized every resource available, for clay pottery, metal trinkets, and jewelry, or dyed clothes. the more valuable resources in the valleys such as gold, copper, and silver played a part in small tool making such as hammers and arrowheads. These rich, cultures thrived independently until the Spanish conquistadors posed both tribes with the same problem: occupation. The Spaniards tore through the mountains and valleys in search of cultures that could offer them land or valuable minerals. With nothing to trade, the Chileans desperately searched for mining opportunities to send minerals through the strait of Magellan in exchange for peace during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Gold and copper were the primary minerals until silver was discovered, transforming the country into one of the top silver producers in the world.
Juan Godoy, a Chilean prospector scored big 50km south of Copiapó in 1832. This area, named Chañarcillo is part of the Atacama Desert, the driest non-polar desert in the world. West of the Andes mountains, this area lines the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Currently a ghost town, Juan Godoy brought this area to life in the 1830’s with nothing but a shovel. During a hunt for precious resources, he found an outcrop of silver in Chañarcillo. This discovery ultimately triggered the Chilean Silver Rush, which caused a flooding of urbanism and prospectors throughout Chile. Once connected by railway, the city Chañarcillo was founded as a mining district, producing an answer to the valuable resources requested by the Spaniards. Silver was added to the list of outsourced materials in the late 1800’s.
The mining city once housed 14,000 workers and their families. Today, the mining has been reclaimed, and the very same city is completely empty, but mining persists by only 140 workers. These miners commute to the city via bus from the towns Freirina, Vallenar, and Copiapó. About 160g/t of silver are produced from this mine and are sent to the town of Copiapó.
Today, chile is one of the world’s top 10 silver producers.The region of the Atacama desert houses mines from large mineral companies such as Codelco and Goldfields, which produce about 300, and 900 tonnes of silver annually for a total of 1200 tonnes.The Silver is no longer outsourced to Spain in exchange for peace, but the historically rich culture has since been eclipsed by the area’s potential for mineral production. This is a perfect example of how an area’s economic and potential for wealth can lead to the demolition of a precedent culture.
Comparison and Conclusion
Silver is everywhere in our lives. We make expensive jewelry out of it, we eat off of utensils made of it, it’s a vital component in our phones, laptops, satellites, and other electronics, it’s used in creams to treat topical burns and as dental fillings. It’s contained in refrigerators, stoves, and dishwashers, and in double paned windows, mirrors and windshields. It surrounds us everyday, and yet we as both individual people and consumers know very little about the places that it comes from. Looking at each of these four individual places of production, we can see that there is more to this mineral and its mining sites, than what can be taken at face value. Behind each location there lies a unique culture, a different physical significance, and a powerful history, that must be taken into account. Each mining site has a radically different relationship with its surrounding people, holds a different historical significance, and a different cultural meaning.
The history of silver’s extraction is a messy one. Usually involving the displacement, enslavement, or exploitation of indigenous tribes, this is evident in the sites Potosi, Bolivia and Chañarcillo, Chile where Spanish conquistadors during their exploration and discovery of South America discovered the rich reserves of silver. These towns and tribes in South America were repeatedly taken over by Spanish forces where indigenous people were forced to work or move. Similarly, in Mount Isa, Australia, the British miner and explorer realized the abundance of Australia’s silver with the help of an Aboriginal tribesman, which resulted in the displacement of many subsistence people. Through the mining of silver many people were displaced and many Europeans were credited with the discovery of this rare mineral. With the consumption of silver, one should consider the indigenous history that interacts with the mining history.
Although China does not have a history of indigenous displacement and massacre regarding its silver mines, this industry is not without its harmful effects. To allow for the rapid industrialization upon which the Chinese economy relies, the country adopted very low environmental standards, causing dramatic and severe environmental degradation in many areas, such as water contamination and air pollution from factory emissions. This degraded natural environment leads to a degraded quality of life and even death for Chinese people due to exposure to harmful chemicals. Like China, Australia’s mining towns have health risks like high rates of lead in the population’s blood, and copious amounts sulfur dioxide in the air. The extraction of silver and the eventual consumption leads the environmental and health hazards for people that neighbor mines and refineries. One must also consider that transportation of lead-silver ingots to refineries also use fossil fuels in turn leading more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
As you can see the history of silver mining is a deep and complex one. It can be easy to label all mining sites as similarly dirty places surrounded by environmental degradation, however it is important to remember that there is much more to these individual and unique sites. Every mining location has its own unique historical significance, cultural meaning and background. These places are more than just a physical location, but instead incompass entire people, histories, and cultures.
References
Hilliard, Henry E. “Silver Statistics and Information.” USGS Minerals Information: Silver. Accessed February 26, 2017. https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/silver/.
Images Credited
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/5/8/struggling-to-savethemountainthateatsmen.html
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5691/30140587554_10e40b2315_b.jpg