Potosi
Trip Start
May 24, 2008
1
29
54
Trip End
Dec 20, 2008
Potosi,
Bolivia
Thursday, September 4, 2008
It was very nice to walk around and visit El Museo de la Moneda, unique and full of history as during several years it was the place where all the coins used in Spain and in its colonies were made. At the beginning, these coins were made of 97% silver extracted from the mines in Potosi. We still can see on the Argentinean coin the PTS mark. During the visit, we could learn the process they used and there are as well several galleries with pictures from the XVII and XVIII centuries.
Even though there was a lot of silver around these centuries (the guide told us it was on the surface of the Cerro Rico, the famous mountain with 250 mines), nowadays the majority of the production is zinc and lead. As the extraction of minerals is the base of the economy in Potosi, and we have never visited a mine before, we went with an ex-miner, nowadays a guide, to know more about this hard job
Museo de la moneda
. What we expected to see was nothing compared to the reality. For 2 hours we were able to watch the different parts of the job, the guys that bring all the minerals from inside the mine to the surface, the ones that perforate the rock always with a shower of dust, water, and small stones (we tried to be there more than a couple of minutes but it was very difficult to support), and the ones that prepare the holes with the dynamite to make the explosions at the end of the day. Before the visit finished, we met El Tio, a funny demon that takes care of the miners. They give presents to him, like cigarettes, coca leaves or 96% alcohol (pure alcohol means pure minerals). It was great to share their experiences for a couple of hours to realize how lucky we are. Normally miners die of pneumonia after 10-15 years in the mines. 
