Cerro Rico
| Cerro Rico | ||
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 Cerro Rico |
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| height | 4800 m | |
| location | Potosí Department , Bolivia | |
| Mountains | To the | |
| Coordinates | 19 ° 37 ′ 8 ″ S , 65 ° 44 ′ 59 ″ W | |
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The Cerro Rico (also Cerro de Potosí , Quechua Sumaq Urqu , dt. Reicher Berg ) is a mountain in the Andes near Potosí , Bolivia . The mountain is known for its large silver deposits, which have been exploited since the Spanish colonial times . Silver and zinc are still mined there today . The Cerro Rico has an altitude of 4800 m . The mines are still in operation today and can be visited. In June 2014, the protection area around the Cerro Rico was extended by UNESCO as part of the UNESCO Red List of Endangered World Heritage in addition to the previous protection of the colonial district due to the endangerment of the uncontrolled mining and extraction system .
Geology and Mineral Finds
The bedrock of Cerro Rico consists of heavily transformed, silicified , pyritized or chloritized volcanic rock . The rich silver deposits have been mined there for almost 500 years. In the 20th century, lead , copper , tungsten , tin and zinc were added.
Cerro Rico or Cerro de Potosí is a well-known site for various minerals and their varieties . Accordingly, the mines there and their spoil heaps are popular travel destinations for collectors. A total of around 100 different minerals or varieties have been discovered at Cerro Rico so far (as of 2014). In addition to pure silver and the known silver mineral Akanthit and the as galena known mineral galena , the chalcopyrite chalcopyrite , the tungsten ore wolframite , the tin ore cassiterite and sphalerite sphalerite were here, you still partly rare minerals arsenopyrite , Diaphorit , Doyleit , Faustit , Fizélyit , Greenockite , hopeite , jarosite , melanterite , miargyrite , nacrite , pyrostilpnite , phosphophyllite , stephanite and valentinite as well as the quartz variety chalcedony and the muscovite variety sericite were found.
For the tin sulfides Berndtite (SnS 2 ) and Ottemannite (Sn 2 S 3 ), the mountain is also considered a type locality .
Web links
- Cerro de Potosi (Cerro Rico) In: Mineralienatlas Lexikon. Stefan Schorn et al., Accessed December 9, 2013.
- Mindat - type locality Cerro de Potosí (Cerro Rico), Potosí City, Potosí Department, Bolivia (location description and mineral discovery list)
Individual evidence
- ↑ El Comité del Patrimonio Mundial, reunido en Doha (Qatar), inscribió hoy la Ciudad de Potosí (Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia) en la Lista del Patrimonio Mundial en Peligro, debido a la actividad minera incontrolada que tiene lugar en su Cerro Rico, que podría degradar el sitio. UNESCO site, accessed July 27, 2014