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Pallaqueo
Hand selection of mined ore fragments for further processing

In the Andean mining tradition pallaqueo, palleo or pirquineo is the hand selection of rock fragments with ore for further processing. 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. In some places the selected rocks are then sold to the local mining company, but this model has the drawback that it could incentivize smuggling of ore from the mine to make it pass as recovered through pallaqueo.

The term pallaqueo and palleo are derived from Quechua pállay. 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, this activity is primarily made by women known as pallaqueras, as they are otherwise not allowed to work inside the mines. For artisan miners known as pirquineros, pallaqueo is a secondary activity to proper mining.

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

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

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See also

Bibliography

References

  1. Serrano Bravo 2004, p. 84. - Serrano Bravo, Carlos (2004). Historia de la minería andina boliviana (siglos XVI–XX) (PDF) (in Spanish). Potosí, Bolivia. https://www2.congreso.gob.pe/sicr/cendocbib/con4_uibd.nsf/6EF6AA797C1749E905257EFF005C493F/$FILE/Historia_de_Miner%C3%ADa_Andina_Boliviana.pdf ↩

  2. Lenz, Rodolfo (1905). Diccionario etimológico de las voces chilenas derivadas de lenguas indígenas americanas (in Spanish). Santiago: Impresa Cervantes. pp. 550–551. /w/index.php?title=Rodolfo_Lenz&action=edit&redlink=1 ↩

  3. Orozco Zevallos, Olinda (2017). Pallaqueras: Entre piedras y oro. Diagnóstico participativo en las regiones de Arequipa, Ayacucho y Puno https://www.defensoria.gob.pe/modules/Downloads/documentos/Pallaqueras.pdf ↩

  4. Lang 1986, p. 217. - Lang, Mervyn (1986). "El derrumbe de Huancavelica en 1786: Fracaso de una reforma borbónica". Histórica (in Spanish). X (2): 213–226. ↩

  5. Lang 1986, p. 221. - Lang, Mervyn (1986). "El derrumbe de Huancavelica en 1786: Fracaso de una reforma borbónica". Histórica (in Spanish). X (2): 213–226. ↩

  6. Orozco Zevallos, Olinda (2017). Pallaqueras: Entre piedras y oro. Diagnóstico participativo en las regiones de Arequipa, Ayacucho y Puno https://www.defensoria.gob.pe/modules/Downloads/documentos/Pallaqueras.pdf ↩

  7. Povea Moreno 2012, p. 112. - Povea Moreno, Isabel María (2012). "Los busconesde metal. El sistema de pallaqueoen Huancavelica (1793-1820)" [The buscones of metal. The pallaqueo system in Huancavelica (1793-1820)]. Anuario de Estudios Americanos (in Spanish). 69 (1): 109–138. doi:10.3989/aeamer.2012.1.04. https://estudiosamericanos.revistas.csic.es/index.php/estudiosamericanos/article/view/564/567 ↩

  8. Povea Moreno 2012, p. 113. - Povea Moreno, Isabel María (2012). "Los busconesde metal. El sistema de pallaqueoen Huancavelica (1793-1820)" [The buscones of metal. The pallaqueo system in Huancavelica (1793-1820)]. Anuario de Estudios Americanos (in Spanish). 69 (1): 109–138. doi:10.3989/aeamer.2012.1.04. https://estudiosamericanos.revistas.csic.es/index.php/estudiosamericanos/article/view/564/567 ↩

  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. 956-14-0844-9 ↩

  10. 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. https://www.infobae.com/peru/2024/05/24/pallaqueras-la-actividad-femenina-poco-conocida-donde-se-trabaja-seleccionando-manualmente-rocas-con-metales-preciosos/ ↩

  11. Lang 1986, p. 221. - Lang, Mervyn (1986). "El derrumbe de Huancavelica en 1786: Fracaso de una reforma borbónica". Histórica (in Spanish). X (2): 213–226. ↩

  12. Povea Moreno 2012, p. 126. - Povea Moreno, Isabel María (2012). "Los busconesde metal. El sistema de pallaqueoen Huancavelica (1793-1820)" [The buscones of metal. The pallaqueo system in Huancavelica (1793-1820)]. Anuario de Estudios Americanos (in Spanish). 69 (1): 109–138. doi:10.3989/aeamer.2012.1.04. https://estudiosamericanos.revistas.csic.es/index.php/estudiosamericanos/article/view/564/567 ↩

  13. Povea Moreno 2012, p. 111. - Povea Moreno, Isabel María (2012). "Los busconesde metal. El sistema de pallaqueoen Huancavelica (1793-1820)" [The buscones of metal. The pallaqueo system in Huancavelica (1793-1820)]. Anuario de Estudios Americanos (in Spanish). 69 (1): 109–138. doi:10.3989/aeamer.2012.1.04. https://estudiosamericanos.revistas.csic.es/index.php/estudiosamericanos/article/view/564/567 ↩

  14. Povea Moreno 2012, p. 111. - Povea Moreno, Isabel María (2012). "Los busconesde metal. El sistema de pallaqueoen Huancavelica (1793-1820)" [The buscones of metal. The pallaqueo system in Huancavelica (1793-1820)]. Anuario de Estudios Americanos (in Spanish). 69 (1): 109–138. doi:10.3989/aeamer.2012.1.04. https://estudiosamericanos.revistas.csic.es/index.php/estudiosamericanos/article/view/564/567 ↩

  15. 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. https://www.infobae.com/peru/2024/05/24/pallaqueras-la-actividad-femenina-poco-conocida-donde-se-trabaja-seleccionando-manualmente-rocas-con-metales-preciosos/ ↩

  16. Chepe, Óscar Espinosa (2017-09-09). "La Rinconada, el 'dorado' helado". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-01-03. https://elpais.com/elpais/2017/09/06/planeta_futuro/1504706117_915831.html ↩

  17. Povea Moreno 2012, p. 111. - Povea Moreno, Isabel María (2012). "Los busconesde metal. El sistema de pallaqueoen Huancavelica (1793-1820)" [The buscones of metal. The pallaqueo system in Huancavelica (1793-1820)]. Anuario de Estudios Americanos (in Spanish). 69 (1): 109–138. doi:10.3989/aeamer.2012.1.04. https://estudiosamericanos.revistas.csic.es/index.php/estudiosamericanos/article/view/564/567 ↩

  18. 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. ↩

  19. 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. https://www.infobae.com/peru/2024/05/24/pallaqueras-la-actividad-femenina-poco-conocida-donde-se-trabaja-seleccionando-manualmente-rocas-con-metales-preciosos/ ↩

  20. 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. https://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0719-12432016000200002 ↩

  21. Povea Moreno 2012, p. 113. - Povea Moreno, Isabel María (2012). "Los busconesde metal. El sistema de pallaqueoen Huancavelica (1793-1820)" [The buscones of metal. The pallaqueo system in Huancavelica (1793-1820)]. Anuario de Estudios Americanos (in Spanish). 69 (1): 109–138. doi:10.3989/aeamer.2012.1.04. https://estudiosamericanos.revistas.csic.es/index.php/estudiosamericanos/article/view/564/567 ↩