Identity Helptrying to identify an old Bolivian (?) mine locality
I purchased this at auction from Mike Brooke (Broadstone Minerals). It has an old label (below) that most likely reads “From the mines of Guanuill, Bolivia” with a date of 1856. I haven’t been able to find out anything about this locality, however, and I’m guessing the name may have changed over the years. The legibility of “Guanuill” is also subject to interpretation. (Images copyright Mike Brooke, used with permission.)
Copper specimen
Label for "Guanuill, Bolivia"?
The interesting angle is that the Bolivia of 1856 was very different than today; it comprised a much larger territory. During the War of the Pacific in 1879-1883, Chile took over a chunk of territory that included Chuquicamata and Antofagasta. There are other areas that were eventually ceded to Brazil and Paraguay. (See map at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivia#/media/File:Map_Bolivia_territorial_loss-en.svg) The upshot is that it might be from a mine that's no longer in Bolivia.
The specimen itself is not particularly helpful in terms of distinguishing characteristics, so the best bet seems to be the name / label and whether it triggers something. Thank you for your help!
Cheers,
D.
I think it is Huanuni, Bolivia! 
Hi
Given that it is copper, one of the largest mining areas is Corocoro. When you review the label, I think you could interpret it as GUALLATIRI or from the mines of GUALLATIRI. (Don't forget that there is no guarantee it was spelt correctly in 1856 either). If this is the case, this is close to Corocoro.
It also looks like some of the sheet copper specimens from here.
Cheers
Keith Don, could you show me this specimen in person at the San Francisco show next weekend? I hesitate to ID stuff from photos, but at first sight it looks to me like the typical coppers from the large Miocene sedimentary copper belt in the Altiplano of Oruro and La Paz departments (which includes Corocoro and Chacarilla districts and many more less well known); definitely not any of the hydrothermal tin deposits like Huanuni.
I can't read the old handwriting, so I'm not much help there. If the first letters are Gu, it could also be a name beginning with Hu, because as Keith pointed out, spellings of these indigenous place names are not standardized - Gu and Hu are often interchangeable, as well as ll and y... etc. So Guallatiri or Huallamarca are Cu localities that might both be possible, but neither looks to me like it really corresponds well with the chicken scratch on the label. Alfredo:
I'll definitely be at the SF show next weekend and will bring this piece along. (Given I have to set up a case Friday and tear it down Sunday, you'll probably see me around all three days....) Hope it's something that rings a bell.
Volkmar and Keith, thank you for your suggestions -- will let folks know if we get to any conclusion on it.
Cheers,
D.
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