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Events/Nationalisation · 1952

Bolivia nationalises the tin mines

Nationalisation, 31 October 1952, Bolivia.

What happened

After the April 1952 revolution the government nationalised the three largest tin companies, Patino, Hochschild and Aramayo, and set up COMIBOL (created 2 October 1952). Medium mines were left untouched and compensation was promised.1,2,3

Why it matters

State control of tin shaped Bolivia's economy for decades.1,2,3

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. Bolivia nationalises the tin mines

    State control of tin shaped Bolivia's economy for decades.1,2,3

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People

Owned byCarlos Victor AramayoHis properties were among the three largest tin companies nationalised in 1952.1Worked hereJuan Lechin OquendoMiners' leader who shared management of the nationalised mines.4Led byVictor Paz EstenssoroHis government took the Patino, Hochschild and Aramayo mines.5,6Worked hereAntenor PatinoThe revolution took his Bolivian mines, but his tin abroad was safe.7Owned bySimon Iturri PatinoThe Tin King's mines were nationalised five years after he died.5,7

Events

Led toInternational Tin Council collapseState tin since 1952 met the 1985 crash, when the tin price fell to about half.8

Trade routes

Shipped throughBolivian tin from Oruro to Antofagasta (railway)Bolivian tin left by rail from Oruro to Antofagasta.9

Sources

  1. Bolivia: the Bolivian National Revolution, 1952-64 US Library of Congress Federal Research Division (via countrystudies.us)
  2. Historia de la COMIBOL Corporacion Minera de Bolivia (COMIBOL)
  3. La Paz (item Q1491), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  4. COMIBOL Encyclopedia.com (reprinting a publisher's reference work)
  5. Foreign Relations of the United States 1952-1954, vol. IV, document 145 US Department of State, Office of the Historian
  6. Paz Estenssoro, Victor Encyclopedia.com (reprinting a publisher's reference work)
  7. Article on Antenor Patino (Tello Diaz), PDF 64024698007 Redalyc (journal article)
  8. Tin written answer, 29 October 1985 UK Parliament (Hansard)
  9. Correa Vera L., Del poder a los tratados: desarrollo y ferrocarriles en Bolivia, 1870-1904 Historia 46(2) (Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, via Redalyc)

Pictures on this page: Carlos Víctor Aramayo - 2.jpg, Unknown author (Public domain); 1922-06-06, El Liberal, Simón I. Patiño (cropped).jpg, Ángel de la Fuente (Public domain).

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Pictures: Chiquicamata Mine, Chile, NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (Public domain (NASA media, no copyright)); Salar de Atacama, Chile, NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (Public domain (NASA media, no copyright)); Kopermijn te Kolwezi in de provincie Shaba (Katanka), Mieremet, Rob / Anefo / Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0).