In the Andean world mining tradition pallaqueo, palleo or pirquineo[Orozco Zevallos, Olinda (2017). Pallaqueras: Entre piedras y oro. Diagnóstico participativo en las regiones de Arequipa, Ayacucho y Puno] Usually, pallaqueo is done in piles of discarded material with little planning, randomly and without authorization.[ However, historically in places like Potosí, Bolivia, pallaqueo has been regarded as an integral part of the mining operation. Pallaqueo has the benefit that it can allow for high –or over-all increased– ore grades to be processed.][ but this model has the drawback that it could incentivize smuggling of ore from the mine to make it pass as recovered through pallaqueo.
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The term pallaqueo and palleo are derived . Those that practice pallaqueo are variously referred to as buscones, pallacos, pallaqueros, pallaqueadores and, in Bolivia, palliris. In some places like La Rinconada in Peru,
The work of pallaqueros and pallaqueras can be physically demanding given uncomfortable stances and – in the high Andes – also because of the Alpine climate.[
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Historically, the term pallaqueros applied sometimes also to any independent miner of surface ores, similar to what is today understood as a pirquinero,
See also
- Bibliography
