Peru has produced metals for thousands of years and is the leading gold producer in Latin America today; however, the indigenous mining technology used to produce industrial amounts of gold in pre-contact Peru has thus far been undescribed. Industrial amounts of gold are produced in only two ways: 1) gravity separation/mercury (amalgamation), and 2) cyanide. Therefore, an understanding of present-day gold mining methods is key to understanding gold mining in the past. For example, in 2018, Peru’s large-scale open-pit gold mines produced 123,767 kg of gold using cyanide and 18,875 kg of gold were produced from small-scale alluvial gold mines that used gravity separation and mercury. Since cyanide was not used until the 1880s, mercury amalgamation must be critiqued as the mining technology that produced prodigious amounts of gold from alluvial sources in pre-contact Peru.
References
[1]
Agricola (1556/1912). De Re Metallica (638 p). Trans. by H. C. Hoover, & H. L. Hoover, Kessinger Publishing.
[2]
Ahern, N. (2016). Mercury in Gold Processing. In M. D. Adams (Ed.), Gold Ore Processing (2nd ed., pp. 753-766). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-63658-4.00042-6
[3]
Ahlfeld, F., & Schneider-Scherbina, A. (1964). Los Yacimientos Minerales y De Hidrocarburos de Bolivia (388 p). La Paz, Ministerio de Minas y Petroleo, Departamento Nacional de Geología, Boletin No. 5 (Especial).
[4]
al-Hassan, A. Y., & Hill, D. R. (1986). Islamic Technology: An Illustrated History (304 p). Cambridge University Press.
[5]
Alpers, C. N., Hunerlach, M. P., May, J. T., & Hothem, R. L. (2005). Mercury Contamination from Historical Gold Mining in California. U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2005-3014 Version 1.1. https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2005/3014 https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20053014
[6]
Appel, P. W., & Na-Oy, L. (2012). The Borax Method of Gold Extraction for Small-Scale Miners. Journal of Health and Pollution, 2, 5-10.
[7]
Arana, P. P. (1901). Las Minas de Azogue del Perú (109 p). Imprenta El Lucero.
[8]
Atlas (1999). Atlas of Minería y Energía en el Perú (D. Hokama, ed., 111 p). Ministerio de Energía y Minas.
[9]
Atlas (2000). Atlas de la Pequeña Minería en el Perú (J. Charmot Sarmiento, ed., 88 p). Ministerio de Energía y Minas.
[10]
Bailey, E. H., & Everhart, D. L. (1964). Geology and Quicksilver Deposits of the New Almaden District, Santa Clara County, California (206 p). U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 360. https://doi.org/10.3133/pp360
[11]
Bailey, E. H., Clark, A. L., & Smith, R. H. (1973). Mercury. In D. A. Brobst, & W. P. Pratt (Eds.), United States Mineral Resources (pp. 401-414). U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 820.
[12]
Balarezo, A. (n.d.). Croquis de Ubicación de Las Zonas Mineras de Parcoy y Buldibuyo. Lima. Cooperación Minera Peruano Alemana, INGEMMET Archivo Tecnico, Codigo CG1794, Scale 1:1,000,000.
[13]
Barba, A. A. (1640/1923). El Arte de los Metales. Trans. by R. E. Douglass, & E. P. Mathewson, John Wiley & Sons.
[14]
Barnes, J. W., & Bailey, E. H. (1972). Turkey’s Major Mercury Mine Today and How It was Mined 8000 Years Ago. World Mining, 25, 49-55.
[15]
Berger, B. R. (1986). Descriptive Model of Hot Spring Au-Ag, Model 25a. In D. P. Cox, & D. A. Singer (Eds.), Mineral Deposit Models. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1693.
[16]
Bolétin (1900). Itinerario de los Viajes de Raimondi en el Perú. Bolétin de la Sociedad Geográfica de Lima, 10, 1-40.
[17]
Bonavia, D. (1985). Mural Painting in Ancient PERU (238 p). Indiana University Press.
[18]
Boulland, M., & Boudreault, A. (2006). New Almaden (225 p). Arcadia Publishing.
[19]
Boyle, R. W. (1979). The Geochemistry of Gold and Its Deposits. Canadian Geological Survey Bulletin, 280, 584 p.
[20]
Brooks, W. E. (2012). Ch. 2. Industrial Use of Mercury in the Ancient World. In M. S. Bank (Ed.), Mercury in the Environment—Pattern and Process (pp. 19-24). University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520271630.003.0002
[21]
Brooks, W. E. (2014). Colombia Mercury Inventory. Geología Colombiana, 37, 15-50.
[22]
Brooks, W. E. (2018). ICP Analyses from the Cinnabar-Mercury Occurrence at Azogues (Loma Guashon), Ecuador, Ancient Industrial Uses and Human Health Implications. Archaeological Discovery, 6, 38-51. https://doi.org/10.4236/ad.2018.61003
[23]
Brooks, W. E., Ozturk, H., & Cansu, Z. (2017). Amalgamation and Small-Scale Gold Mining at Ancient Sardis, Turkey. Archaeological Discovery, 5, 42-59. https://doi.org/10.4236/ad.2017.51003
[24]
Brooks, W. E., Piminchumo, V., Suarez, H., Jackson, J. C., & McGeehin, J. P. (2008). Mineral Pigments from Huaca Tacaynamo, Chan Chan, Northern Peru. Bulletin de l’Institut Francais d’études Andines, 37, 441-450. https://doi.org/10.4000/bifea.2957
[25]
Brooks, W. E., Sandoval, E., Yepez, M., & Howard, H. (2007). Peru Mercury Inventory 2006. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2007-1252. http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1252/ https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20071252
[26]
Brooks, W. E., Schwörbel, G., & Castillo, L. E. (2013). Ch. 10. Amalgamation and Small-Scale Gold Mining in the Ancient Andes. In N. Tripcevich, & K. J. Vaughn (Eds.), Mining and Quarrying in the Ancient Andes, Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology (pp. 213-229). Springer Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5200-3_10
[27]
Brooks, W. E., Sierra, J. A., & Palacios, F. (2015). Green Gold—Dirty Gold, Tadó, Dept. Chocó, Colombia. Natural Resources, 6, 534-542. https://doi.org/10.4236/nr.2015.611051
[28]
Brown, K. W. (2001). Workers’ Health and Colonial Mercury Mining at Huancavelica, Peru. The Americas, 57, 467-496. https://doi.org/10.1353/tam.2001.0030
[29]
Buitrago, C. J., & Buenaventura, J. (1975). Ocurrencias Minerales en La Región Central del Departmento del Tolima (837 p). INGEOMINAS Informe 1672, Bogotá.
[30]
Burger, R. L., & Gordon, R. B. (1998). Early Central Andean Metalworking from Mina Perdida, Peru. Science, 282, 1108-1111. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.282.5391.1108
[31]
Cabrera la Rosa, A. (1954). Situación Actual de la Minería del Mercurio en el Perú (pp. 3-12). Minería y Metalurgia, Madrid.
Cánepa, C. (2005). Minería a Pequeña Escala en la Costa Sur Media del Perú (62 p). Instituto Geológico Minero y Metalúrgico, INGEMMET Boletín 3, Serie E: Minería, Lima.
[34]
CDC (n.d.). Mercury. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/mercury/default.html
[35]
Chauvin, L. (2018). Pope Brings Environmental Crusade to Peru. Washington Post, 20 January, A8.
[36]
Cobbing, J., Sánchez, A., Martínez, W., & Zárate, H. (1996). Geología de los Cuadrángulos de Huaraz, Recuay, La Unión, Chiquián y Yanahuanca (281 p). INGEMMET Boletin n. 76, Serie A, Carta Geologíca Nacional.
[37]
Consejo de Recursos Minerales (1992). Geological-Mining Monograph of the State of Queretaro (108 p). Consejo de Recursos Minerales, Secretaria de Energia, Minas e Industria, Mexico, D. F., Publishing Number M4e.
[38]
Craddock, P. T. (1995). Early Metal Mining and Production (363 p). Smithsonian Institution Press.
[39]
Craig, J. R., Vaughan, D. J., and Skinner, B. J. (2001). Resources of the Earth (520 p). Prentice-Hall.
[40]
Davis, F. F. (1957). Mercury. In L. A. Wright (Ed.), Mineral Commodities of California, State of California, Division of Mines Bulletin 176 (pp. 341-356).
[41]
De Peralta, K. K. (2018). Dying to Heal, Women and Syphilis in Colonial Lima, Peru. Nursing Clio. https://nursingclio.org
[42]
Deustua, J. E. (2010). Mercury (not Always Rising) and the Social Economy of Nineteenth-Century Peru. Economía, 33, 128-153. http://www.researchgate.net
[43]
Diggings (n.d.). Cerro Azoguine Quicksilver Mercury Mine. The Diggings. https://thediggings.com/mines/usgs10068939
[44]
Domingo, I., Garcia-Borja, P., & Rodán, C. (2012). Identification, Processing, and Use of Red Pigments (Hematite and Cinnabar) in the Early Neolitic (Spain). Archaeometry, 54, 868-892. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4754.2011.00650.x
[45]
Fernández-Lozano, J., Nnandong, A. N., Rivera, S., Esbrí, J. M., Carrasco, R. M., Pedraza, J., Bernardo-Sánchez, A., & Higueras, P. (2021). Uso de mercurio para el beneficio de yacimientos secundarios de oro en epoca romana. Realidad o ficción? Geogaceta, 69, 1-4. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349685762
[46]
Franco Jordán, R. (2012). El Apu Campana, La Montaña Sagrada Moche. Pueblo Continente, 23, 292-307.
[47]
Garbín, L. (1904). Apuntes Sobre los Minerales de Huallanca, Chonta y Queropalca. Boletin de la Sociedad de Ingenieros, VI, 1-17.
[48]
Giles, C. F. (n.d.). Minas de Mercurio Conocidas en el Peru (3 p). INGEMMET Archivo Tecnico, Codigo 9921.
[49]
Gold Mine Ranch (2021). The Gold Mine Ranch History. https://www.thegoldmineranch.com/history
[50]
Grossman, J. (2013). The Waywanka Gold, New Chronometric Evidence. Andean Past, 11, 123-138.
[51]
Gurmendi, A. C. (2012). The Mineral Industry of Peru. U.S. Geological Survey 2012 Minerals Yearbook. https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/2012/myb3-2012-peru.pdf
[52]
Healy, J. F. (1979). Mining and Processing Gold Ores in the Ancient World. Journal of Metals, 31, 11-16. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03354474
Langenscheidt, A. (1986). Historia Minima de la Minería en la Sierra Gorda, Queretaro, Mexico. Mineroamérica, 24-29.
[55]
Lanyon, M., & Bulmore, L. (1967). Cinnabar Hills, the Quicksilver Days of New Almaden (128 p). Village Printers.
[56]
Larco Hoyle, R. (1945/2001). Los Mochicas, Tomo II (350 p). Museo Arqueologíco Rafael Larco Herrera, Pueblo Libre.
[57]
Lozano, H. (1987). Minerales de Mercurio. Publicacciones Especial de Ingeominas, No. 1, 275-293.
[58]
Maravelaki-Kalaitzaki, N., & Kallithrakis-Kontos, M. (2003). Cinnabar Find in Cretan Hellenistic Tombs, Preservative or Cosmetic Purpose. In 4th Symposium on Archaeometry. Hellenic Society for Archaeometry. http://www.archaeometry.gr/eae/HSA
[59]
Márques, M. (1590). Casa de Moneda, Banco de la Republica, Bogotá, explanation in a gold-mining diorama. March 2012.
[60]
Marsden, J. O., & House, C. I. (2006). The Chemistry of Gold Extraction (275 p). Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration.
[61]
McAllister, J. F., Flores, H., & Ruiz, C. (1950). Quicksilver Deposits of Chile (69 p). U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 964-E.
[62]
National Park Service (2019). Metals of the Gold Rush. National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/klse/learn/nature/geology.htm
[63]
Noble, D. C., & Vidal, C. E. (1990). Association of Silver with Mercury, Arsenic, and Antimony at the Huancavelica district, Peru. Economic Geology, 85, 1645-1650. https://doi.org/10.2113/gsecongeo.85.7.1645
[64]
Noble, D. C., & Vidal, C. E. (1994). Gold in Perú. SEG Discovery, No. 17, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.5382/SEGnews.1994-17.fea
[65]
Paddock, R. C. (2019). The Hidden Cost of Gold: Birth Defects and Brain Damage. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/09/world/asia/indonesia-mercury-pollution-gold-mining.html
[66]
Pendergast, D. M. (1982). Ancient Maya Mercury. Science, 217, 533-535. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.217.4559.533
[67]
Peruvian Times (2012). Pre-Inca Cinnabar Mine Discovered in Trujillo. Peruvian Times. https://www.peruviantimes.com/22/pre-inca-cinnabar-mine-discovered-in-trujillo/16097
[68]
Petersen, G. (1970/2010). Mining and Metallurgy in Ancient Perú (90 p.). Trans. by W. E. Brooks, 2010, of Minería y Metalurgia en el Antiguo Perú, Arqueologicas 12, Museo Nacional de Antropología y Arqueología, Pueblo Libre, Lima. Geological Society of America Special Paper 467.
[69]
Posnansky, A. (1945/1957). Tiahuanaco, La Cuna del Hombre Americano. v. 1-II, 1945, New York; v. 3-4, Ministerio de Educación, 1957, La Paz, Bolivia.
[70]
Prescott, W. H. (1847/2005). History of the Conquest of Peru (537 p). Dover Publications.
[71]
Prieto, G., Wright, V., Burger, R., Cooke, C., Zeballos-Velasquez, E. L. Watanave, A., Suchomel, M. R., & Suescun, L. (2016). The Source, Processing and Use of Red Pigment Based on Hematite and Cinnabar at Gramalote, an Early Initial Period (1500-1200 cal. B.C.) Maritime Community, North Coast of Peru. Journal of Archaeological Science Reports, 5, 45-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.10.026
[72]
Ravines, R. (1978). Tecnología Andina (821 p). Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, Instituto de Investigación Tecnológica Industrial y de Normas Técnicas, OCLC4263659.
[73]
Rivero, M. E., & Tschudi, J. J. (1853). Peruvian Antiquities (225 p). New York.
[74]
Roberts, R. J. & Irving, E. M. (1957). Mineral Deposits of Central America. U.S. Geological Survey.
[75]
Rodriguez Mejía, R., Sanchez Chimpay, E., Choquehuanca Condori, S., Fabian Quispe, C., & Del Castillo Herrera, B. (2020). Geología de los Cuadrángulos de Puno y Acora. INGEMMET, Boletín Serie L. Carta Geologíca Nacional, Escala 1:50,000.
[76]
Rose, A. W., Hawkes, H. E., & Webb, J. S. (1979). Geochemistry in Mineral Exploration (500 p). Academic Press.
[77]
Roskill (1990). The Economics of Mercury (156 p). Roskill Information Services Ltd.
[78]
Saenz, J., & Martinon-Torres, M. (2011). Gold in Amerika. In R. Slotta, & I. Schnepel (Eds.), Chiles Kupfer fur die Welt (pp. 245-256). Deutches Bergbau-Museum.
[79]
Sax, N. I. (1984). Dangerous Properties of Industrial Minerals (1756 p). Van Nostrand.
[80]
Singewald, Q. E. (1950). Mineral Resources of Colombia, Geologic Investigations in the American Republics (pp. 151-155). U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 964-B.
[81]
Soto-Viruet, Y. (2018). The Mineral Industry of Peru. U.S. Geological Survey 2017-2018 Minerals Yearbook. https://pubs.usgs.gov/myb/vol3/2017-18/myb3-2017-18-peru.pdf
[82]
Spindler, E. (2018). The Story of Cinnabar and Vermilion at the Met. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://www.metmuseum.org
[83]
Takacs. L. (2000). Quicksilver from Cinnabar, First Dcumented Mechano-Chemical Reaction. Journal of Metals, 52, 12-13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-000-0106-0
[84]
Truhan, D. L., Burton, D. L., & Bruhns, K. O. (2005). El Cinabrio en el Mundo Andino. Revista de Antropología, 18, 193-205.
[85]
Turekian, K. K., & Wedepohl, K. H. (1961). Distribution of the Elements in Some Major Units of the Earth’s Crust. GSA Bulletin, 72, 175-192. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1961)72[175:DOTEIS]2.0.CO;2
[86]
United Nations Environment Programme (2017). Global Mercury: Supply, Trade and Demand (81 p). United Nations Environment Programme. https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/21725/global_mercury.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
[87]
Vaughan, K. J., Grados, M. L., Eerkens, J. W., & Edwards, M. J. (2007). Hematite Mining in the Ancient Americas: Mina Primavera, a 2000-Year-Old Peruvian Mine. Journal of Metals, 59, 16-20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-007-0145-x
[88]
Vercelli, A., Paz, M., & Huaman, A. (1977). Reservas Minerales en el Peru en Antimonio, Bismuto, Mercurio, Selenio, Tellurio, e Indio. INGEMMET Archivo Tecnico, Codigo A0717.
[89]
Webster, P. C. (2012). Not All That Glitters: Mercury Poisoning in Colombia. The Lancet, 379, 1379-1380. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60582-0
[90]
Whitaker, A. P. (1941). The Huancavelica Mercury Mine (150 p). Harvard University Press.
[91]
Wilson, F. (1941). Colombia. Engineering and Mining Journal, 142, 154-155.
[92]
Yates, R. G., Kent, D. F., & Concha, J. F. (1955). Geology of the Huancavelica Quicksilver District, Peru (45 p). U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 975-A.
[93]
Zarate, H. (2006). Proyecto GR5-Estudio Geológico del Batolito de Balsas-Pataz-Buldibuyo, Ocurrencias de la Mineralización en el Area de Estudio (110 p). INGEMMET Informe A5727.
