Pirquinero

In Chile and nearby areas of Argentina and Bolivia a pirquinero (from Quechua pircca) is a miner who extracts minerals in a traditional manner and is usually independent. A charactistic of the pirquineros is that they are involved in a wide range of stages of the production including mineral prospecting, extraction and processing. The activity is typically associated with low capital investments and the use of rudimentary technology. There are pirquineros that work on gold, copper and, in the localities of south-central Chile of Coronel and Lota, coal. The Norte Chico region of Chile is historically the place with most intense pirquinero activity. More specifically pirquineros in Chile concentrate in the communes of Diego de Almagro, Andacollo, Vallenar, Copiapó, Tocopilla, Chañaral and ...