The Lakes of Potosi

Rudolph, William E.

doi:10.2307/209714

Cited by 8 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…The 26-kD type II transmembrane TNF precursor protein, expressed on many cell types, is proteolytically converted into a soluble 52-kD homotrimer (6). An elevated serum level of TNF is associated with the pathophysiology of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), inflammatory bowel disease, and ankylosing spondylitis (1,7,8), and molecules that inhibit TNF signaling have demonstrated clinical efficacy in treating some of these diseases (9,10).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Intensive Pre-Incan Metallurgy Recorded by Lake Sediments from the Bolivian Andes

Abbott

Wolfe

2003

Science

103

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The history of pre-Columbian metallurgy in South America is incomplete because looting of metal artifacts has been pervasive. Here, we reconstruct a millennium of metallurgical activity in southern Bolivia using the stratigraphy of metals associated with smelting (Pb, Sb, Bi, Ag, Sn) from lake sediments deposited near the major silver deposit of Cerro Rico de Potosí. Pronounced metal enrichment events coincide with the terminal stages of Tiwanaku culture (1000 to 1200 A.D.) and Inca through early Colonial times (1400 to 1650 A.D.). The earliest of these events suggests that Cerro Rico ores were actively smelted at a large scale in the Late Intermediate Period, providing evidence for a major pre-Incan silver industry.

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confidence: 99%

Intensive Pre-Incan Metallurgy Recorded by Lake Sediments from the Bolivian Andes

Abbott

Wolfe

2003

Science

103

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“…Mining joins grazing pressure, farmland expansion, road construction, and urbanization as serious causes of long-term environmental degradation in highland southern Bolivia (Brandt and Townsend 2006). Potosí has endured water shortages throughout its history and local streams are key resources in the arid, high-altitude, low-productivity landscape (Rudolf 1936). Downstream, contamination limits the uses of Rio Pilcomayo.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Water resources in and around the city of Potosí (estimated population 150,000) have been dramatically and continuously impacted geomorphologically, geochemically, and ecologically by human activities since the initiation of mining. First, a system of artificial lakes was constructed in the Kari-Kari region, east of the city to provide drinking water and hydropower for ore processing (Rudolf 1936). Concurrently, the Ribera de la Vera Cruz was constructed through the city with a system of 32 dams to power the waterwheels of over a hundred ore processers or ingenios (Rudolf 1936;García-Guinea 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, a system of artificial lakes was constructed in the Kari-Kari region, east of the city to provide drinking water and hydropower for ore processing (Rudolf 1936). Concurrently, the Ribera de la Vera Cruz was constructed through the city with a system of 32 dams to power the waterwheels of over a hundred ore processers or ingenios (Rudolf 1936;García-Guinea 1995). Ingenios continuously discharged tailings to the Ribera de la Vera Cruz until 2004.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A dam burst in 1626, causing extreme destruction over 2 h as an increasingly polluted torrent of ore, tailings, amalgam and Hg rushed down the Ribera de la Vera Cruz through Rio Tarapaya (Serrano et al 1996;Gioda et al 2002). Approximately 4,000 residents died as hundreds of homes and over 125 of the 132 ingenios were destroyed (Rudolf 1936;Serrano et al 1996;Gioda et al 2002). However, the ingenios were soon reconstructed and by 1636 there were more ingenios than before the disaster (Serrano et al 1996) and the gangue from the amalgamation process continued to be washed out of the mills into local waterways (García-Guinea 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Acid mine drainage at Cerro Rico de Potosí II: severe degradation of the Upper Rio Pilcomayo watershed

2011

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Ag, Pb, Sn and Zn ores have been intensively mined and processed at Cerro Rico de Potosí, Bolivia since 1545. Acid mine drainage (AMD) and mineral processing plant effluent are prime sources of water contamination in the headwaters of the Upper Rio Pilcomayo watershed. Streams receiving AMD drainage from the slopes of Cerro Rico and surrounding landscapes were sampled during the dry (July-August 2006) and wet (March 2007) seasons of one water-year. In-stream waters contained total metal concentrations of up to 16 mg/L As, 4.9 mg/L Cd, 0.97 mg/L Co, 1,100 mg/L Fe, 110 mg/L Mn, 4.1 mg/L Pb, and 1,500 mg/L Zn with pH ranging from 2.8 to 9.5. AMD-impacted streams contained elevated concentrations of the same major ecotoxic constituents present in AMD discharges at concentrations orders of magnitude greater than in those streams unimpacted by AMD. Many of the AMD impacted water bodies are more degraded than class ''D'' of the Bolivian receiving water body criteria, rendering them unfit for domestic or agricultural use. Natural attenuation is insufficient to render waters safe for use, however, some of these waters are currently being utilized for irrigation and livestock watering. The data indicate that historic and current mining activities have transformed these key natural resources into potential human and environmental health hazards.

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Mine tailings dams: Characteristics, failure, environmental impacts, and remediation

Kossoff

Dubbin

Alfredsson

et al. 2014

Applied Geochemistry

639

254

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On a global scale demand for the products of the extractive industries is ever increasing. Extraction of the targeted resource results in the concurrent production of a significant volume of waste material, including tailings, which are mixtures of crushed rock and processing fluids from mills, washeries or concentrators that remain after the extraction of economic metals, minerals, mineral fuels or coal. The volume of tailings is normally far in excess of the liberated resource, and the tailings often contain potentially hazardous contaminants. A priority for a reasonable and responsible mining organization must be to proactively isolate the tailings so as to forestall them from entering groundwaters, rivers, lakes and the wind. There is ample evidence that, should such tailings enter these environments they may contaminate food chains and drinking water. Furthermore, the tailings undergo physical and chemical change after they have been deposited. The chemical changes are most often a function of exposure to atmospheric oxidation and tends to make previously, perhaps safely held contaminants mobile and available. If the tailings are stored under water, contact with the atmosphere is substantially reduced, thereby forestalling oxygen-mediated chemical change. It is therefore accepted practice for tailings to be stored in isolated impoundments under water and behind dams. However, these dams frequently fail, releasing enormous quantities of tailings into river catchments. These accidents pose a serious threat to animal and human health and are of concern for extractive industries and the wider community. It is therefore of importance to understand the nature of the material held within these dams, what best safety practice is for these structures and, should the worst happen, what adverse effects such accidents might have on the wider environment and how these might be mitigated. This paper reviews these factors, covering the characteristics, types and magnitudes, environmental impacts, and remediation of mine tailings dam failures.Peer reviewe

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The Lakes of Potosi

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

Intensive Pre-Incan Metallurgy Recorded by Lake Sediments from the Bolivian Andes

Intensive Pre-Incan Metallurgy Recorded by Lake Sediments from the Bolivian Andes

Acid mine drainage at Cerro Rico de Potosí II: severe degradation of the Upper Rio Pilcomayo watershed

Mine tailings dams: Characteristics, failure, environmental impacts, and remediation

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