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Published: November 10th 2007
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Potosi
The city of Potosi. We´re sitting in a dark little cave, our lungs burning, sweat dripping off us and so much dust in our nose and throat that we can hardly breathe. And our guide says to us, "If you ever feel like you hate your job, there´ll always be a job for you here in the mine". I have complained about pretty much any job I´ve ever had - too hard, too boring, my boss doesn´t understand what I do etc etc, but sitting there in the dark, I realised that I couldn´t remember a single complaint. It felt so silly and spoilt to complain after witnessing what the men and women of Potosi do every single day.
Jamie and I visited the city of Potosi specifically to see the working mine of Cerro Rico. I wasn´t really sure what to expect, but the town itself is actually quite beautiful. For more than 200 years, Potosi was the richest town in the world. The Spanish began mining Cerro Rico in 1545, and it quickly turned into the world´s most lucrative mine, underwriting the Spanish economy for than 200 years. The conditions were (and still are) horrific. More than 8 million people have died
Cerro Rico
Amazing to think that the people of Potosi (or Spain) have been mining this one mountain for so many hundreds of years... in the mines, and our guide tells us that there is a saying that enough silver was mined to build a bridge of silver from Potosi to Spain, and another bridge could be built with the bones of those who died inside the mountain.
Even today, conditions inside the mine are horrifying. There is no fancy equipment - miners use shovels, pickaxes and dynamite. The altitude is over 4200m, and temperatures range from freezing to stifling hot (up to 115 degrees). Miners are exposed to all sorts of chemicals, gases and harmful debris - silica dust, arsenic gas, acetylene vapours and asbestos deposits - and most miners die within 10-15 years of entering the mine.
Our tour started at 8.30am - we got kitted up in protective gear (jacket, pants, gum boots, helmet) and then we paid a visit to the miner´s market. This was probably the highlight of Jamie´s travels - he got to buy dynamite! For a couple of dollars, you can buy a stick of nitroglycerine paste, a bag of ammonium nitrate, and a fuse. We also bought other gifts for the miners - coca leaves, soft drinks, and cigarettes. Our guide also showed us
The highlight of Jamie´s trip
Jamie was so excited about buying dynamite...it´s almost a little scary... the different kinds of dynamite available - Peruvian, Bolivian and Argentinian. Apparently there is a huge difference in the quality of dynamite - Peruvian dynamite is only used if you want to kill someone (!!) or have fun at a party. Our guide also told us that Peruvian dynamite is usually only used against the police. If you´re a serious miner, then Bolivian is the way to go.
After the markets, we visited the ingenio to see where the silver and tin deposits are processed. The smell was overpowering, but our guide reports that conditions have improved considerably - they used to use mercury, and this is how a large number of miners died. Jamie was impressed by the lack of health and safety regulations - a refreshing change from the ´nanny state´ we´re used to.
We then arrived at the mines. It was immediately apparent that we were at a working mine, rather than just a tourist attraction. Workers came charging out of the mine with their carts filled with rocks. We spent the next two hours exploring the mine and dodging the workers as they went about their jobs. The mine itself is shocking. Almost immediately
Handle with Care
They actually let anyone buy this stuff...no age restrictions, no permits...it´s crazy! we were bent in half as we walked through the tunnel - our protective helmets came in very handy and we continuously bumped our heads on overhanging beams and rocks. First we visited ´Tio´or ´uncle´. On the outside, miners believe in god and church, but inside the mine, the devil (or ´tio´) rules. He owns the mine and the minerals within it, and the miners must pay homage to him, or pay the price. Coca leaves, cigarettes and alcohol are left with the statue of Tio, and every Friday, the miners join him and get completely plastered. Our guide explained: if they have a productive week and find lots of minerals, then they must repay Tio´s kindess by drinking lots of alcohol with him. If they have a bad week, and not much mineral is found, then this is most likely because they didn´t drink enough the week before, and they must make up for it. As you can imagine, Fridays in the mine are pretty crazy. Our guide gave us some of the alcohol that they drink - 96%! It tasted like tequila, only 100 times worse. It´s pretty much stove fuel. But then after visiting the mines, I
The milky bar kid
We stopped at the miner´s market to buy supplies, and we grabbed a couple of banana smoothies to keep us going. Jamie was already on a high after buying explosives, and in this picture, he looks like an ad for dairy products! think that if I was working there every day (and had a life expectancy of 10-15 years) maybe I would get into drinking more of it.
The further into the mine we travelled, the harder our route became. At points we crawled on our hands and knees through dusty spaces no bigger than our bodies. The dust was incredible - we were wearing bandanas over our nose and mouth, but the dust would find a way in and make it hard to breathe. By the time we got out, my voice was about 2 octaves lower, and I´m convinced it was just dust on my vocal cords! We crawled down onto the 2nd and 3rd levels, where we got to talk to miners and give them our gifts. There were these white blooms of mineral on the rock walls - we asked our guide what it was, and he casually replied "Arsenic". As we descended further into the mine, it became incredibly hot. Climbing back out of the mines, was even harder. The altitude, combined with the dust made it incredibly hard to breathe. The tunnels that we had slid down, now had to be climbed up, almost like
ingenio
This is where they process the metals they find in the mine. scrambling. By the time we got out, we were dripping with sweat, covered in dust and grease (and who knows what else) and we had a completely new appreciation for our jobs.
But it wasn´t over! It was time for the most anticipated part of the tour - the detonation of dynamite. Our guide demonstrated how to make a bomb using the nitroglycerine paste and the ammonium nitrate. Jamie was then allowed to light the fuse! A very proud moment as you can imagine. We all then had an opportunity to take our photo with our bomb (!!) before giving it to some poor miner who had to run like a madman to take it a safe distance away before detonation. I could just imagine, poor man waiting impatiently for us tourists to stop mucking around with the bomb, so he can run as fast as he can without losing his arms. The shock of the explosion was like a hammer to your body.
After exploding our dynamite, it was time to head home. We were exhausted. It seems incredible, when we only spent maybe an hour and a half in the actual mine, and people do this
every day for more than 8 hours. I wished that we could have gone back to the miner´s market and bought more gifts! But at least we have a new appreciation for our jobs...let´s hope that still holds when we get back to the real world...
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