Potosí is the highest city in the world and the centre of the Silver mining world for much of the last 400 years. These days, the mines have largely been emptied of all the really minable stuff. However small plot holders still mine the mountains around Potosi for zinc and silver, all of this by hand in small, cramped, terrible conditions, which make Sovereign Hill in Ballarat seem like an example of world mining standards. Seriously, this is the most unsafe i´ve felt in Bolivia. Forget nights out with drug dealers, or the worlds most dangerous road, or riding on the roof with drunk tour guides. The safety standards in these mines is atrocious. The safety inspector wouldn´t even set foot in these in Australia, but here, hundreds of people work and make a living. Any
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