pallaqueo

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{{short description|Hand selection of mined ore fragments for further processing}}

In the Andean mining tradition {{lang|es|pallaqueo}}, {{lang|es|palleo}}{{sfn|Serrano Bravo|2004|p=84}} or {{lang|es|pirquineo}}{{Cite book |title=Diccionario etimológico de las voces chilenas derivadas de lenguas indígenas americanas|last=Lenz |first=Rodolfo |publisher=Impresa Cervantes |location=Santiago |pages=550-551 |language=es |author-link=Rodolfo Lenz|year=1905}} is the hand selection of rock fragments with ore for further processing.Orozco Zevallos, Olinda (2017). [https://www.defensoria.gob.pe/modules/Downloads/documentos/Pallaqueras.pdf Pallaqueras: Entre piedras y oro. Diagnóstico participativo en las regiones de Arequipa, Ayacucho y Puno]{{sfn|Lang|1986|p=217}} Usually, {{lang|es|pallaqueo}} is done in piles of discarded material with little planning, randomly and without authorization.{{sfn|Lang|1986|p=221}} However, historically in places like Potosí, Bolivia, {{lang|es|pallaqueo}} has been regarded as an integral part of the mining operation.{{sfn|Povea Moreno|2012|p=112}}{{sfn|Povea Moreno|2012|p=113}} {{lang|es|Pallaqueo}} has the benefit that it can allow for high –or over-all increased– ore grades to be processed.{{cite book |last=Camus |first=Francisco |date=2005|chapter=La minería y la evolución de la exploración en Chile |title=Minería y desarrollo |editor-last=Lagos |editor-first=Gustavo|editor-link=Gustavo Lagos |language=es |location=Santiago, Chile |publisher=Ediciones Universidad Católica de Chile |pages=236 |isbn=956-14-0844-9}} 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 {{lang|es|pallaqueo}}.{{sfn|Lang|1986|p=221}}{{sfn|Povea Moreno|2012|p=126}}

The term {{lang|es|pallaqueo}} and {{lang|es|palleo}} are derived {{ety|qu|pállay}}.{{sfn|Povea Moreno|2012|p=111}} Those that practice {{lang|es|pallaqueo}} are variously referred to as {{lang|es|buscones}}, {{lang|es|pallacos}}, {{lang|es|pallaqueros}}, {{lang|es|pallaqueadores}} and, in Bolivia, {{lang|es|palliris}}.{{sfn|Povea Moreno|2012|p=111}} In some places like La Rinconada in Peru,{{Cite news |title=Pallaqueras: la actividad femenina poco conocida donde se trabaja seleccionando manualmente rocas con metales preciosos |last=Villantoy Gómez |first=Abigail |date=2024-05-24 |url=https://www.infobae.com/peru/2024/05/24/pallaqueras-la-actividad-femenina-poco-conocida-donde-se-trabaja-seleccionando-manualmente-rocas-con-metales-preciosos/ |access-date=2025-03-01 |work=Infobae |language=es}} this activity is primarily made by women known as {{lang|es|pallaqueras}}, as they are otherwise not allowed to work inside the mines.{{cite news | last=Chepe | first=Óscar Espinosa | title=La Rinconada, el 'dorado' helado | website=El País | date=2017-09-09 | url=https://elpais.com/elpais/2017/09/06/planeta_futuro/1504706117_915831.html | language=es | access-date=2021-01-03}}{{sfn|Povea Moreno|2012|p=111}} For artisan miners known as {{lang|es|pirquineros}}, {{lang|es|pallaqueo}} is a secondary activity to proper mining.{{Cite journal|title=Urban Symbiosis: A Study of Company Town Camp Followers in the Atacama Desert |journal=North-South Canadian Journal of Latin American Studies |last=Porteous |first=J. Douglas |volume=3 |issue=5-6 |pages=210-221 |year=1978}}

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

Historically, the term {{lang|es|pallaqueros}} applied sometimes also to any independent miner of surface ores, similar to what is today understood as a {{lang|es|pirquinero}},{{Cite journal|language=es|title=Minería popular y estrategias de supervivencia: Pirquineros y pallacos en el Norte Chico, Chile, 1780-1950|journal=Cuadernos de Historia|url=https://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0719-12432016000200002|last=Godoy Orellana|first=Milton|doi=10.4067/S0719-12432016000200002|number=45|year=2016|pages=29–62|trans-title=Popular mining and survival strategies: Pirquineros and pallacos in the Norte Chico, Chile, 1780-1950}} and they were important agents of mineral exploration.{{sfn|Povea Moreno|2012|p=113}}