Reports in 2019 indicate that the current output of the mines was predominantly tin and zinc by then and only small amounts of silver. One report estimates that a full 88% of the miners in Bolivia, roughly 8,000 to 10,000 (depending on the source making the estimate), including children, were working for the cooperatives. A former miner discussed the great risks of working at Cerro Rico with a reporter; the mountain that eats men has claimed that some 8 million lives have been lost over the centuries according to a recent book. The former miner, however, added that those working there had few other alternatives for earning a living. You have to be crazy to work in the mines, with the conditions. But there are no other alternatives.