About Cerro Rico
Industrial Facilities, Mountain Peaks, Mineshafts, Interesting Places, Natural, Geological Formations
Cerro Rico (Spanish for "rich mountain"), Cerro Potosí ("Potosí mountain") or Sumaq Urqu (Quechua sumaq beautiful, good, pleasant, urqu mountain, "beautiful (good or pleasant) mountain") is a mountain in the Andes near the Bolivian city of Potosí. Cerro Rico, which is popularly conceived of as being "made of" silver ore, was famous for providing vast quantities of silver for Spain during the period of the New World Spanish Empire. It is estimated that eighty-five percent of the silver produced in the central Andes during this time came from Cerro Rico. As a result of mining operations in the mountain, the city of Potosí became one of the largest cities in the New World.
