Ore Mining in Bolivia

Abstract

Until the mid-1980s, the Bolivian mines sustained the national economy, generating up to 70% of the country’s international income (U.S. Department of Labor and Care International 2006). The role of mining in the national economy diminished after 1985 when international prices for mining products decreased. The government handed over some mines to private enterprises or left them open for miners to establish cooperatives. International prices for mining products have been increasing again since 2005, and accordingly COMIBOL started to reverse the policy of privatisation. There are now four types of mining companies: state mining, medium-scale mining, small-scale mining and cooperatives. Mining cooperatives are groups of at least ten miners – although usually a few hundred – who exploit mines and share profits; in theory they do this according to an equal share, but in practice a hierarchy exists in functions and incomes.