Cerro de Pasco

Mining town and capital of Pasco department and province, in the central highlands of Peru, some 175 km/109 mi northwest of Lima; population (2005) 69,300; urban agglomeration 266,800. Cerro de Pasco, which stands at an altitude of 4,338 m/14,232 ft and is the highest city of its size in the world, is Peru's main site for mineral extraction. It has rich copper and silver mines, and gold, lead, and zinc are also mined nearby. The railway from Cerro de Pasco connects with Lima via La Oroya to the southeast. The city is gradually being relocated to a new site at San Juan Pampa, at 4,380 m/14,370 ft.

One of the world's largest vanadium mines was formerly located at Minasragra near Cerro de Pasco, but has now closed down; the world's highest coal mine is situated in the deep canyon at Goyllarisquisga to the north.