Cerro Rico, which means the Rich Mountain in Spanish, is located in the Andes mountain range in South America and overlooks the city of Potosi, which was founded in 1546, after silver deposits were discovered in the mountain.
Cerro Rico is also known as 'The Man-Eating Mountain' because when the Quechua and African slaves were first sent to mine the mountain, they were trapped underground for several weeks and many never re-emerged.
After almost 500 years of mining, the top of Cerro Rico started to collapse, creating a sinkhole which sinks a few centimetres deeper every year despite government efforts to stabilise it with light cement.
The solution would be to stop the mining, but depriving the city of its main activity is not considered an option for the population of whom 15,000 are miners.
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