Pallaqueo

In the Andean mining tradition pallaqueo, palleo[1] or pirquineo[2] is the hand selection of rock fragments with ore for further processing.[3][4] Usually, pallaqueo is done in piles of discarded material with little planning, randomly and without authorization.[5][3] However, historically in places like Potosí and Pulacayo in Bolivia, pallaqueo has been regarded as an integral part of the mining operation.[6][7][8] Pallaqueo has the benefit that it can allow for high –or over-all increased– ore grades to be processed.[9] In some places the selected rocks are sold to the local mining company,[10] but this model has the drawback that it could incentivize smuggling of ore from the mine to make it pass as recovered through pallaqueo.[5][11]

The term pallaqueo and palleo are derived from Quechua pállay.[12] Those that practice pallaqueo are variously referred to as buscones, pallacos, pallaqueros, pallaqueadores and, in Bolivia, palliris.[12] In some places like La Rinconada in Peru,[10] this activity is primarily made by women known as pallaqueras, as they are otherwise not allowed to work inside the mines.[13][12] For artisan miners known as pirquineros, pallaqueo is a secondary activity to proper mining.[14]

The work of pallaqueros and pallaqueras can be physically demanding given uncomfortable stances and – in the high Andes – also because of the cold climate.[10]

Historically, the term pallaqueros applied sometimes also to any independent miner of surface ores, similar to what is today understood as a pirquinero,[15] and they were important agents of mineral exploration.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ Serrano Bravo 2004, p. 84.
  2. ^ Lenz, Rodolfo (1905). Diccionario etimológico de las voces chilenas derivadas de lenguas indígenas americanas (in Spanish). Santiago: Impresa Cervantes. pp. 550–551.
  3. ^ a b Orozco Zevallos, Olinda (2017). Pallaqueras: Entre piedras y oro. Diagnóstico participativo en las regiones de Arequipa, Ayacucho y Puno
  4. ^ Lang 1986, p. 217.
  5. ^ a b Lang 1986, p. 221.
  6. ^ Povea Moreno 2012, p. 112.
  7. ^ a b Povea Moreno 2012, p. 113.
  8. ^ Galaz-Mandakovic, Damir (2016). "Industrialización minera, urbanización e innovación en las relaciones sociales en el sudoeste del Altiplano bolivano: El caso de la Compañía Huanchaca de Bolivia (1834-1930)". Estudios Atacameños (in Spanish). 52.
  9. ^ Camus, Francisco (2005). "La minería y la evolución de la exploración en Chile". In Lagos, Gustavo (ed.). Minería y desarrollo (in Spanish). Santiago, Chile: Ediciones Universidad Católica de Chile. p. 236. ISBN 956-14-0844-9.
  10. ^ a b c Villantoy Gómez, Abigail (2024-05-24). "Pallaqueras: la actividad femenina poco conocida donde se trabaja seleccionando manualmente rocas con metales preciosos". Infobae (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-03-01.
  11. ^ Povea Moreno 2012, p. 126.
  12. ^ a b c Povea Moreno 2012, p. 111.
  13. ^ Espinosa Chepe, Óscar (2017-09-09). "La Rinconada, el 'dorado' helado". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  14. ^ Porteous, J. Douglas (1978). "Urban Symbiosis: A Study of Company Town Camp Followers in the Atacama Desert". North-South Canadian Journal of Latin American Studies. 3 (5–6): 210–221.
  15. ^ Godoy Orellana, Milton (2016). "Minería popular y estrategias de supervivencia: Pirquineros y pallacos en el Norte Chico, Chile, 1780-1950" [Popular mining and survival strategies: Pirquineros and pallacos in the Norte Chico, Chile, 1780-1950]. Cuadernos de Historia (in Spanish) (45): 29–62. doi:10.4067/S0719-12432016000200002.
Bibliography
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