The litigious tradition of the residents of Oruro and the notable disorder of their daily lives cannot be comprehended without establishing a few links to their basic economic activity: mining. The social and economic development of mining towns in Spanish America showed peculiarities that distinguished them from other kinds of settlements. In the opinion of two authors,

Such economic vicissitudes give rise, predictably, to conflicts and irreconcilable confrontations like those described in the preceding chapters, as well as to peculiar strategies of alliance among different groups, some of which will be analyzed in the last part of this book.

In keeping with the local economic activity, one of the most frequently mentioned places in the documents of this period in Oruro – after the cabildo and the church – is the caja real, or royal treasury. Its importance is easily understood: it was the legally mandatory destination of miners who needed to have their silver cast into ingots.

In fact, not only miners used the services of the caja. It was also used by the “mercaderes deplata” or silver dealers; in general, anyone who possessed minerals or pieces of silver was eligible to use the caja?

This was, however, the final step in an arduous process, the costs of which were not always proportional to the effort required.