Pallaqueo

In the Andean mining tradition pallaqueo, palleo^[1] or pirquineo^[2] is the hand selection of rock fragments with ore for further processing.^[3][4] Usually, pallaqueo is done in piles of discarded material with little planning, randomly and without authorization.^[5][3] However, historically in places like Potosí and Pulacayo in Bolivia, pallaqueo has been regarded as an integral part of the mining operation.^[6][7][8] Pallaqueo has the benefit that it can allow for high –or over-all increased– ore grades to be processed.^[9] In some places the selected rocks are sold to the local mining company,^[10] but this model has the drawback that it could incentivize smuggling of ore from the mine to make it pass as recovered through pallaqueo.^[5][11]

The term pallaqueo and palleo are derived from Quechua pállay.^[12] Those that practice pallaqueo are variously referred to as buscones, pallacos, pallaqueros, pallaqueadores and, in Bolivia, palliris.^[12] In some places like La Rinconada in Peru,^[10] this activity is primarily made by women known as pallaqueras, as they are otherwise not allowed to work inside the mines.^[13][12] For artisan miners known as pirquineros, pallaqueo is a secondary activity to proper mining.^[14]

The work of pallaqueros and pallaqueras can be physically demanding given uncomfortable stances and – in the high Andes – also because of the cold climate.^[10]

Historically, the term pallaqueros applied sometimes also to any independent miner of surface ores, similar to what is today understood as a pirquinero,^[15] and they were important agents of mineral exploration.^[7]