Nor Lípez Province

- 20.916666666667 - 67.216666666667Koordinaten: 20 ° 55 ' S, 67 ° 13' W

Nor Lípez is a province in the southwest part of the department of Potosí in the South American Andes State of Bolivia.

Location

The Nor Lípez province is one of sixteen provinces in the Potosí Department. It lies between 20 ° 27 'and 22 ° 01' south latitude and between 66 ° 18 ' and 68 ° 35 ' ​​west longitude. It is bordered on the north by the province of Daniel Campos, on the west by the Republic of Chile, to the south by the province Enrique Baldivieso and the province Sur Lípez, on the east by the province Sur chichas, in the north- east by the province Antonio Quijarro, and in the far north in the Oruro Department. The province extends about 270 km in east-west direction and 210 km in north-south direction.

Population

The population of the province of Nor Lípez has risen in the past two decades by about two-thirds:

The provincial capital is Colcha "K". Most important idioms of the province, each with 89 per cent are equally Quechua and Spanish.

96 percent of the population have no access to electricity, 93 percent have no sanitary facilities. 61 percent of the population work in agriculture, 9 percent in mining, 2 percent in industry, 28 percent in services. 90 percent of the population are Catholic, 6 percent Protestant.

Economy

1996 large silver deposits were discovered in the vicinity of the municipality of San Cristóbal in the municipality of Colcha "K", and under the government of Hugo Banzer (1997-2002 ) created the legal conditions for the development of the site and relocated the church. In August 2007, the mine " San Cristóbal " ( Minera San Cristóbal ) was opened, which can be regarded as the world's third largest silver and fifth largest zinc mine with an annual production of 525 tons of silver, 225,000 tonnes of zinc and 82,000 tons of lead. 40,000 ore and rocks Every day since the opening of the mine in open cast mines.

The power supply to the mine is via the city Punutuma, and for the transportation of the ore concentrates, a 65- kilometer-long railway branch was completed in the second quarter of 2007, which connects the mine with the Chilean port of Mejillones. In November 2008, the mine Apex Silver Mines Ltd. to the Japanese trading company Sumitomo Corp. was. sold. According to Sumitomo, the mine can be operated for another 16 years.

Structure

The province is divided into the following two counties ( bolivian: municipios ):

• Municipio Colcha "K" - 11,972 inhabitants (Update 2010)
• The municipality of San Pedro de Quemes - 1,117 inhabitants