Braving the Potosi Silver Mine

---

The Potosi mine tour is something that would probably not be possible in any other country. That in itself is both reason to do it and not to do it. The mines are old, some working mines date from the 1500s when the Spanish first began mining Cerro Rico for it's silver, and conditions look to have improved little. It's uncomfortable, hot, claustrophobic, dusty and dangerous. But it has to be seen to be believed. The men and boys (some little more than children, some are children) spend upwards of 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, working in these conditions to extract what little is left for very meagre earnings (2-4 dollars a day). And what's more it is killing them.

The average life expectancy for a Potosi miner is mid thirties. If he isn't killed in an accident he will die of silicosis of the lungs, an inescapable consequence of breathing in the dust. Watching a 14 year old labour in the mine and knowing if he continues to do so he is unlikely to live to my age was a very sobering thought. The tour inside the mine took 2 and a half hours. We walked the mine shafts, sometimes doubled over the ceilings are so low, squeezed through gaps, stepped over 40 metre drops, and met and spoke with the miners and took them gifts of cocoa leaves, fizzy drinks, alcohol and dynamite. They are proud to be Potosi Miners and generous with their time. I cannot overstate the respect I felt for them.

---