The notes below provide some historical detail about Simón Patiño and the Patiño empire he created, which included the building and operation of the Machacamarca - Uncia railway.
The line that operated the two 'Sulzers', from Machacamarca to Uncia was a relatively late arrival on the railway scene in Bolivia. The line was privately owned and its connection with the mainline at Machacamarca would allow a more expeditious means of exporting the tin dug out of the ground at Uncia, Huanuni & Catavi. Prior to the arrival of the line at Uncia, the refined ore was shipped by llama and cart to the nearest railhead. at Machacamarca.
Construction was completed in two phases, the first 37 miles opened in 1920, the remaining 23 miles to Uncia opened a year later. A three mile branch was also constructed to Catavi. The line was built as metre gauge.
The construction of the line and the mine facilities that it serviced were made possible by the good fortune of Simón Iturri Patiño (born Cochabamba, Bolivia June 1st 1862, died Buenos Aires, Argentina April 20th 1947), who built a vast fortune out of the minerals, principally tin & silver that could be found in the rocks around Uncia. At the time of his death he was one of the world's wealthiest men. Patiño is believed to have spent his early years growing up in the Oruro area. In the 1880's he had worked in the famous Huanchaca silver mine (Compania Hunanchaca de Bolivia). He transitioned to the supply firm of Fricke in Oruro to handle the store's collections. In 1894 a deed of land was accepted by Patiño for the modest debt of a prospector. This did not sit well with the company, they considered the land to be worthless and fired Patiño and possibly required him to make good on the debt.
The deed was for rocky land on the side of a mountain located at Llallagua. For three years the site was worked over with little result, but in 1900 the claim eventually proved to be far richer in minerals than anyone had imagined when a very rich vein of tin was found. The strike was called 'La Salvadora' (The Savior). With the resources generated from this mine Patiño built up control of nearby mines and other significant mines in Bolivia, including Catavi, Huanuni, Siglo XX (20th century) & Uncia. As the 20th century opened this exploitation of tin would make Bolivia one of the world's major tin suppliers. It would also contribute to a period of stability in the country and allow development of other industries.
The Siglo XX mine was for most of the century 'the richest tin structure and most productive in the world'. The area had over the centuries seen much mining for silver, but it was only the transition from silver to tin mining in the late 19th century that saw the dramatic growth in operations. When silver was the principal ore mined any tin retrieved had been used locally for lining water tanks or in the brewing processes. After mining commenced in 1903 it produced about 30% of all Bolivia's tin and 6% of the world's tin, a total in excess of one-half million tons of tin (as at 1974). This output and that of the other mines owned by Patiño created the economic base for Latin America's first and only multinational corporation - with eventual interests in North & South America, Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Prior to the arrival of the miners the mountain of Llallagua supported little more than patches of potatoes, a staple crop of people living in the Andes. Llallagua is the Quechua spirit that provides abundant potato harvests. As mining opened up the veins some were discovered to be over three feet wide with the ore containing 65% tin, so rich it was exported without passing through the concentrating mill.
Patiño was a shrewd businessman and looked to expand his empire vertically. He was aided by the dramatically increasing market price of tin - it quadrupled between 1896 and 1917, whilst his production costs remained relatively stable, leaving the company with an extraordinairy profit margin. This was also aided by the decline in European tin production, the mines in Germany were played out and those in Cornwall, England had greatly reduced output, and at a time when the tin canning process was expanding greatly. Once brought to the surface the processing of the ore followed long established but archaic practices which relied heavily on local labour and methods that would not be able to handle the increasing volumes.
Patiño sought to industrialize the operation. In 1901 plans were laid down for the $1 million Miraflores concentrating mill, which would contain Bolivia's first diesel engines. The mill came online in 1904 and allowed output of processed ore to quadruple during its first year of operation. In 1918 Sulzer Brothers provided a 600hp diesel/generator set for use at Uncia. The equipment was shipped by sea to Antofagasta, Chile. Here the motor was broken down into five sections and delivered by rail to Machacamarca. From here thirty miles of the branch to Uncia had been completed. Where the railway ended the machinery was loaded onto carts hauled by mules, one large component, almost nine meters long and weighing eight tons required a specially built cart. The Uncía mill required a lot of power, cable cars brought the ore to the facility, six crushing & pulverising mills reduced the ore followed by a visit to the cylindrical mills. A magnetic separation process was applied to the low grade ore.
The railway line to Uncia would not be completed until 1921, at which point the movement of ore by llama and cart was discontinued. The capacity of the original Miraflores mill would be greatly exceeded by the opening of the Victoria concentrating mill at Catavi on the other side of the mountain. In addition to the imported diesel/generator sets the demands for electric power were met by the creation of two artificial lakes, producing hydroelectric generating capacity at a high point of 16 million kW.
Original motive power for the line was a number of powerful tank locomotives built by Orenstein & Koppel, Germany, some were semi-articulated Mallets.
Consolidation & Overseas Expansion
In 1908 Patiño made his first trip to Europe, to learn the challenges of the tin market and to acquire half-ownership of the German smelting firm of Zinnwerke-Wilhelmsburg, which was refining nearly all his ore. The United States National Lead Company was the other half-owner of this company, they also managed the smelter. This was the first of many moves by Patiño in the tin market to gain power in his drive to dominate the Bolivian and international tin industry. This link with Europe was solidified in 1912 when he set up residence in Hamburg. World War One required changes to be made, Patino moved to England, directing his ore to the Williams, Harvey smelter at Liverpool. The leverage of National Lead & Patiño was used in 1916 against the English company to break their monopoly on ore smelting. Eventually National Lead acquired one-half interest in the English company, then selling on one-third of its share to Patiño. By 1929 Williams, Harvey was entirely owned by Patiño interests, On the opposite side of the world the major Malayan tin-mining companies attracted Patiño's interest, buying large quantities of their stock.
From 1910 Patiño began to consolidate his Bolivian mining empire, hoping to achieve economies of scale. This included the purchase of active and inactive mines in the area. During the 1920s Patiño was said to have a greater annual income than the Bolivian government. Unfortunately at the same time a heart condition made his return to Bolivia not recommended. After 1924 (when he owned fifty percent of the national production) he lived in Paris, New York and finally Buenos Aires. His wealth and European residence allowed hin to run in diplomatic circles whilst in Bolivia, through his wealth, he wielded much political power.
Although Simon Patiño could not return to Bolivia because of health concerns he remained a patriot of Bolivia providing the town of Cochabamba with electricity and the establishment of a new bank in Bolivia. He also set about dealing with a rival Chilean mining concern that owned the Compañia Estañifera de Llallagua, a competing mine at Llallagua. From 1914 under the secret direction of Patino two British firms were used to buy stock in the Chilean company held at the Santiago stock exchange. National Lead were also involved in this subterfuge, by April 1924 Patiño announced ownership of the Chilean company, with his interests holding two thirds of the stock. The two competing mines at Llallagua were now combined under Patiño's ownership.
Now with a very firm footing in the Bolivia tin extraction and smelting industry, Patiño continued investing in Far Eastern & African tin production & smelting. He successfully diversified into other unrelated investments in North America & Europe creating the basis for a well integrated and growing fortune.
Surplus Production and the Great Depression
But time was marching on for Bolivian tin mining. The extraction of tin from alluvial deposits in South East Asia provided stiff competition for the Bolivian ores, in particular the high quality of these ores and the cheaper labour costs. The price of tin fell 75% between 1926 & 1932, Bolivian production fell by two thirds during the same period. Over production following record high prices in 1926, declining demand and the arrival of the Great Depression and the Stock Market crash all took a heavy toll on Bolivian tin mining. At the height of production in 1928 the Siglo XX mine had approximately 87 miles of tunnels accessible by rail mounted ore-cars and 43 lodes with 295 branches under exploitation. Further growth of this and the other Bolivian mines would be seriously impeded by the previously mentioned factors and the exhaustion of the higher grade ores. Since the Patiño companies generated possibly a sixth of Bolivia's revenue and employed as many as 30,000 people any potential scaleback of production would have a major impact, this was at a time of growing unrest in the workforce as communist agitators sought to infiltrate the work force. Riots in September 1930 required the use of troops to reestablish order. However major cuts in employment and mining activities did take place, frequently mining methods reverted to those from earlier times to save costs.
To save the Bolivian tin mining industry Patiño looked for greater access to the Malaysian mines and set about implementing global production controls for tin. No doubt the Malaysian companies were well aware of Simon Patiño's earlier methods of acquisition and sought to limit foreign control of their companies. During 1933 production limits were implemented, the 1933 production would be one third of the 1929 totals, by the end of 1933 tin prices had started to rebound. But Bolivia was now entering a period of war with Paraguay, many experienced miners had joined the army which led to a shortage of labour at the mines. To mitigate this many old workings were now reworked, ore that once was considered virtually worthless was now processed. Labour shortages continued despite the use of native Indians and Peruvians & Chileans. Turnover was high since the workers frequently only accepted ninety day contracts, strikes were also frequent, these were blamed on agitators. It is perhaps tragic to note that the extensive Patiño archives in Paris detailing fify years of the mine's operations contain in the words of historian Querejazu "there was not a single document analyzing the political and social situation, even though the growing agitation among the workers and repeated errors of government made the future of the mining industry and the nation's economy increasingly insecure."
The declining quality of the ore and the lack of new high quality lodes spelled certain closure for the mines, between 1938 and 1952 the average ore grade at Siglo XX declined from 2.45 to 1.11 per cent tin. However technological innovations which greatly reduced labour requirements averted closure, allowing annual tonnage to reach 10,500 tons between 1947 & 1952. But the labour situation remained a time of strikes, uprisings and the formation of unions, Siglo XX's miners formed the largest and most militant unit of the Federacion Sindical de Trabajadores Mineros de Bolivia (FSTMB), the national union founded in 1944.
Death and Revolution
In the midst of all these events Simon Patiño died in Buenos Aires on April 20th 1947. His remains were returned to Bolivia, being buried in Cochabamba, leaving his widow Albina Patiño to become president of the Patino Mines & Enterprises Consolidated (Inc.), Albina Patiño and her children controlled 80% of the stock of a company which at the time controlled 35% of the world's supply of tin.
With the labour movement having grown in strength and influence over the previous two decades and with the people seemingly ready for serious change, the Revolutionary National Movement (MNR) with Victor Estenssoro as its leader won a clear victory in elections held in 1951. However the army placed General Hugo Ballivan in the president's position. The expected confrontation came in early April 1952 when armed MNR members confronted the government forces in La Paz and other parts of Bolivia. It took three days and the loss of six hundred lives for the MNR to take its rightful position in the government of Bolivia.
On April 15th 1952 the victorious Estenssoro arrived in La Paz, having returned from exile in Buenos Aires. The energy of the 'revolution' moved quickly through the government, with reforms and changes being quickly instituted, one of which was a demand for the nationalisation of the mines.
The mines were nationalised by decree effective October 31st 1952. That day MNR President Estenssoro visited the Catavi mill and the mining camps of Siglo XX to announce the nationalization of the mines before a cheering assembly of miners, peasants and politicians. Although the occasion was one of many festivities which lasted for many days, it was not mentioned that the mine was in decline and output in the post-Revolution era would never match tonnage from earlier years.
The new organisation, the worker-run Bolivian Mining Corporation (COMIBOL) took over the operation of 163 mines and 29,000 workers previously controlled by the mining barons Aramayo, Hochschild & Patino. Originally demands had been made to pay the mine owners nothing following the seizure of the properties. However the three owners would receive $27 million for the loss of the mines. The Patiño family were able to force an early repayment plan upon the Bolivian government because of external political pressure and their control over the crucial Williams, Harvey smelter, the sole Bolivian tin concentrate smelter still operating in the world.
It was amidst all this change and upheaval that the first of the diesel powered locomotives for the FC Machacamarca - Uncia railway arrived from Europe during 1952.
Sources:
Bolivia: The Price of Tin, Part I: Patiño Mines and Enterprises; by Norman Gall.
Sulzer Motores Diesel, VIII 1929 (Spanish printing).
The two locomotives which worked the Machacamarca - Uncia held the record for the highest altitude operated by Sulzer powered diesel locomotives.
However two decades earlier the Sulzer sales representatives of the 1920 & 1930's had left their imprint on Bolivia with the sales of stationary power generating plants in a number of locations. Whilst this has absolutely nothing to do with the original purpose of this page, the need to explore a little further has resulted in the information below!
Guaqui - La Paz Railway Company.
This was the first electrified railway in South America opening December 1905 to provide service over 5.5 miles of heavily graded track between El Alto and La Paz. The elevation change between El Alto & La Paz is about 1,400 feet, this short line had a ruling grade of 1 in 18, with a maximum grade of 1 in 16, which dictated that electric traction be the motive power of choice.
Initially a gas supply provided by a Mond plant drove 600hp engines for the electric supply to the line. In 1914 this plant was replaced by a new installation at Pura Pura (La Paz). Installed here were two 400hp Sulzer four cylinder four cycle diesel engines. A report dated about 1929 noted that the diesel engines had performed satisfactorily in regular daily service with the minimum of repairs required.
During the 1970's a large modern highway was built to connect El Alto to La Paz, this cut the electrified route in several places and effectively closed the route. A short section of track in La Paz remained electrified for freight car movements, but by this time electricity was being supplied from the public grid.
Milluni Tin Mine.
This tin mining complex was situated about 20 km north of La Paz at an altitude of 14,900 feet. Installed here was a four cycle airless injection two cycle diesel engine & at the time of its installation it was reported to be the highest diesel engine plant in the world. During the wet season the diesel engine was only required at times of peak load, but during the dry season the diesel engine provided all the electrical needs of the tin mine.
The ore content here was about 2%, initially mined in open pits, then in burrows. Later a British company used horizontal drifts into the mountain to work out the four foot thick veins. By this method output of ore was about seventy five tons per day.
Miners from Milluni assisted in the insurrection which overtook Bolivia in April 1952. The miners marched to La Paz, occupied the railway station and seized a train of munitions. The next day the military junta fell.
Slumping tin prices in 1985 saw the mine abruptly cease production. Now all the mine produces is a pollution of the local water supply, though a low-tech solution (bacterial sulphate reduction) using supplies of locally available llama dung provides a realistic and cheap answer to the pollution problem. And since Bolivia has virually no scrap recycling industry and this mine is in the middle of nowhere, one wonders if this Sulzer engine remains at the mine facility.
Carabuco Power Station.
This power station supplied electric power to a zinc & lead mine at Carabuco. The mine is situated on Lake Titicaca west of La Paz at an altitude of 14,000 feet. The diesel engine was transported across Lake Titicaca in a boat special adapted for travel over the shallower portions of the lake. The four cylinder engine developed 200hp at 333rpm. An out of adjustment valve gear caused the engine to suffer an explosion in a cylinder which bent the connecting rod and damaged the liner & piston. Until new parts were obtained the engine remained in service operating on three cylinders.
Portugalete Power Station.
This silver mine was situated in Portugalete (Department of Potosi), the village is at an altitude of 14,066 feet, but the actual mine is 1,000 feet higher. A diesel engine was installed here to provide a power source for the mine.
Portulagete is close to the town of San Vicente, the location where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ended their days. Which is somewhat ironic as the movie was part of the inspiration for me to make my trip to Bolivia. That a location near to the places where Butch & Sundance wandered would later utilise a Sulzer engine, another connection with my trip to Bolivia might perhaps be considered an interesting coincidence.
Sources
Sulzer Technical Review #4 1929
Page added November 11th 2002
Last updated June 27th 2008.
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