ABSTRACT
Mining has been important in some parts of the south-central Andes for over 450 years. The mines near the city of Potosí in Bolivia were important not only for the regional development of this part of the New World but also for Western Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. While the contemporary importance of mining in Potosí is no longer so global, it continues to be significant for the national, regional and many household economies. This long history of mining has also been largely unregulated. Among the potential consequences of this sustained history of non-regulation are that the upper reaches of the Río Pilcomayo may have become contaminated as the river runs its course from the mining highlands of Potosí on to the south-eastern department of Tarija before ultimately joining the Río Paraguay (Map 10.1). 1 The Pilcomayo Basin, Potosí and Tarija. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203639030/678d8ebb-e13e-4d69-8d98-0a5cb14e1844/content/fig10_1_B.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> Note Map prepared by Nick Scarle.
