Chapare crocidolite deposit, Province of Chapare, Bolivia

The crocidolite deposits of the Province of Chapare, Bolivia, were described by the U.S. Bureau of Mines' Minerals Yearbook for 1951 as "the only known commercial deposit of crocidolite (blue asbestos) in the Western Hemisphere."³ The same chapter said of Bolivian crocidolite that "the material is in demand for air filters, and the small imports are purchased mainly for the National Stockpile."³ The 1965 yearbook, citing World Mining, placed "the main deposits, close to the Espiritu Santo River at an elevation of 500 meters," in "the Alto Chapare region on the eastern slopes of the Cordillera de Cochabamba," and said that "the largest mines operate sporadically."¹ The yearbook's later chapters speak of the Bolivian crocidolite mines and an industry at Cochabamba without naming Chapare: for 1970 it said that under a United Nations Development Program "the Bolivian crocidolite mines will become steadily rather than sporadically operated," and that "an experimental plant with the capacity to produce 1,500 tons per year of fiber is being erected at Cochabamba."² It reported that the 3-year program "to assist in establishing an asbestos industry at Cochabamba was terminated in 1972," and that in 1973 Corporacion Boliviana de Fomento "was to contribute an additional $328,000 toward achieving a 5,000-ton-per-year operation there."^4,5

The documents report small or short-lived production of asbestos fiber for sale.³

Year by year

Every statement about this mine in the documents, in each document's own words, by the year it is about.

1951

• Buyers: “the small imports are purchased mainly for the National Stockpile”, p. 10³
• Description: “the only known commercial deposit of crocidolite (blue asbestos) in the Western Hemisphere”, p. 10³

1965

• Worked: “The largest mines operate sporadically”, as reported by World Mining, p. 7¹
• Description: “The main deposits, close to the Espiritu Santo River at an elevation of 500 meters, are in the Alto Chapare region”, as reported by World Mining, p. 7¹

1970

• Worked: “the Bolivian crocidolite mines will become steadily rather than sporadically operated”, p. 8²
• Mill: “an experimental plant with the capacity to produce 1,500 tons per year of fiber is being erected at Cochabamba”, p. 8²

1972

• Description: “The 3-year United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to assist in establishing an asbestos industry at Cochabamba was terminated in 1972”, p. 9⁴

1973

• Description: “5,000-ton-per-year operation there” (Corporacion Boliviana de Fomento), p. 8⁵

Other names

Documents call this mine “Province of Chapare”, “Alto Chapare”, “Bolivian crocidolite mines”.

References

1. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1965 (January 1, 1966), p. 7.
2. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1970 (January 1, 1971), p. 8.
3. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1951 (January 1, 1952), p. 10.
4. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1972 (January 1, 1973), p. 9.
5. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1973 (January 1, 1974), p. 8.