San Cristobal Mine & Carbon Dioxide

Lake near San Cristobal Mine in Bolivia

The screen saver showed a portion of this lake. At least I think it's a lake. We might be looking at ice, we are up around 12,000 feet elevation. It was odd enough to get my attention. Looking at Google Maps I find it is near the San Cristobal Mine. Reading about the mine I come across this odd bit of information.

Silver was discovered at the Hedionda mine over three centuries ago. Repeated attempts to mine the silver ended in failure because of the presence of carbon dioxide gas which caused the death of many miners. The gas continues to issue from the wallrocks of the mine at the present time.

The Hedionda mine was rediscovered in 1896 by the Polish engineer J. Jackowski, who operated the mine from 1896 to 1901 and from 1927 to 1936, after having found a remedy for the carbon dioxide problem. This remedy was simply the excavation of a canal in the floor of the mine workings which allowed the gas to flow out of the mine like water. In addition, mining was confined to work above the adits.

Excerpted from page 3 of a USGS PDF.