History of Prospective Mineral Property Area in Bolivia
More than ten thousand years ago, an ancient river flowed from the
Cordillera Real Mountains at the base of the Andes to the tropical jungle area
where it converged with two other rivers. This ancient river, known today as the
Tipuani River, carried with it deposits of gold which were disbursed in its bed
and laid to rest along the its length, from the head of the river to the
convergence. As time passed, these deposits were covered by other alluvial
deposits as the valley filled with material washed away from the surrounding
mountains with each season's flooding and erosion. Containing significant
amounts of the associated deposits, for centuries the river was one of the Incan
Empire's sources of gold, which was the basis of their monetary system.
In 1562, Juan de Roda arrived at Roman Playa near Tipuani, Bolivia. This
was the first colonial expedition to the Tipuani River. Exploitation reached
Chuqini in 1580 and Tipuani in 1602. The Tipuani River, as previously mentioned,
held significant deposits of gold from the surface down to the ancient riverbed,
known as the Paleocanal, up to 1,200 ft. below the surface.
Early in the 19th century the first attempts at large-scale mining were
made by Ildefonso Villamil. Villamil produced more than 150,000 ounces of gold
from several areas upstream from Tipuani from 1813 to 1833 and again from 1850
to 1866. The first attempts at mechanization were made with the use of water
pumps in 1840 by J. Wheathey, an Irishman.
Heavy equipment was not introduced in the area until near the end of the
19th century. In 1898, the Incahuira Dredging Company brought machinery and a
dredge to the nearby Kaka River. But it was the "Compania Aramayo de Minas"
which conducted major mining activities between 1936 and 1949, putting the main
emphasis on the exploration and exploitation of the "Old Channel" of the
Paleotipuani. Since 1952 (following the nationalization of the mines and the
forced return of all gold concessions held by Aramayo to the State on November 7
of that year) and until 1961, the gold placers of the Tipuani Valley were
exploited by groups controlled by the Banco Minero, which bought the gold. In
1961 the government annulled all previous licenses and granted juridical
personality to cooperatives, which in 1963 formed the "Federacion Regional de
Cooperativas Auriferas", which is currently exploiting the placer deposits. |
