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Cerro Rico

The village of Potosí was once the largest industrial mining complex in the world during the 16th century. This is because of the mountain of Cerro Rico, which is just south of Potosí (located in the Andes). The mountain had a large amount of silver, which was mined using hydraulic mills. They extracted it by combining it with mercury, then they brought it to Spain by travelling across the Andes with llamas and then sailing to Spain.
The Mountain and the city of Potosí today.

      Before the Spanish came, Potosí was a small village. Some time between 1542 and 1545, however, they discovered the biggest silver veins in the New World, and they transformed the city into the mining complex it still is today. They used the silver to fund their armies so that they could wage war against other parts of Europe. They also sent some silver to Asia, as the Spanish controlled the Philippines. The silver caused some of East Asia's countries economies to destabilize (including causing financial chaos in part of China). The mine has estimated about 1.76 billion ounces of silver in reserves.

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