The huge amount of Pre-Hispanic silver adornments known especially from Perú, Bolivia and Ecuador raises the question whether the pre-Hispanic civilizations obtained the raw material from native ores or from argentiferous-lead ores. Although native silver may be available in America, it is as rare as in the Old World. From colonial texts it is known that silver mines were open in colonial times by the Spaniards from Mexico to Argentina, the main ones being those of Tasco, Mexico, and Potosí in Bolivia. 
Some kind of blast furnaces called huayrachinas were described in colonial texts, as native technology furnaces used in Perú and Bolivia to smelt the ores that come from the silver mines owned by the Spaniards. Although it is not conclusive, it is believed that these kinds of furnaces were used before the Spanish Conquest. Ethnoarchaeological and archaeological work in Porco Municipality, Potosí, Bolivia, has suggested pre-European use of huayrachinas.
There are no specific archaeological accounts about silver smelting or mining in the Andes prior to the Incas. Silver and lead artefacts have been found in the Peruvian central highlands dated in the pre-Inca and Inca periods. From the presence of lead in silver artefacts, archaeologists suggest that cupellation occurred there.