I have been following this story in the Bolivian press. It is not that serious. There is a civil comittee in the town of Potosi, which for some reason (political reasons) has decided to make the Cerro Rico an issue.

The issue they have is that the mountain, which has been exploited for 500 years may collapse at the top due to the continuous mining, which has gone on for all those years. Now, Coeur is only taking out silver containing dust up to 4.500 meters according to contract, but there are also illegal miners active in the mine, which may be excavating.

Following the protests the Government has decided to ban all mining above 4.400 meters, so Coeur has immediately agreed to bring down its equipment below 4.400 meters. there is plenty of dust below 4,400 meters, so there is no problem for the immediate future.

However, the civil committee has other interests than just the Cerro Rico, elections, so they keep on fuelling the protests.

For Coeur there is little reason to worry, because not only is local and provincial Government dependent on tax income from Coeur's operations, on top of that there are 12,000 to 20,000 miners organized in cooperatives which have promised the Civil committee, that they will them a solid kick in the face (una patada limpia en la cara), if they keep on posing a threat to their jobs.