I never thought I'd know what life in the mines might have been like for the thousands of hopefuls that swarmed to California for the gold rush after 1849 - that is until I went to Potosi.
In Spanish colonial times, Potosi was the source of the richest silver strike ever found. In its heyday more people lived here than in London.
Our group took a bizarre tour into the bowels of the Cerro mountain where 5000 miners still head every day in search of Zinc and Silver, working in the most awful most conditions. On average, 50 people per year die in the Potosi mine. One man was killed the day before we arrived after he ran the wrong way away from a dynamite explosion. He choked to death, unable to escape the poisonous gases generated by the explosion.
(Yes, I know, it didn't sound like a safe trip to me either!!!)
A Potosi miner is expected to live for about 30 years from the day he enters the mine. Given that some 'miners' are as young as nine-years-old when they start work, you can appreciate that there aren't too many old guys around Potosi.
Miners earn about 50 Bolivianos per day ($6) provided they can extract 8 tonnes of rock in each shift. Shifts can last upto 24 hours as the men use only hand tools and dynamite to break up the rock. Of course, minerals can be extracted more quickly using pneumatic drills, but these cost $100 Bolivianos per hour to rent and the dust generated by these machines is generally recognized as reducing life expectancy by another 10 years.
Safety equipment? No. There isn't any (except for tourists). The men of the mines pray to 'El Tio' before each shift and only use chewed Coca leaves to filter the air they breath. As a result, most suffer from Silicosis of the lungs.
Doesn't sound like tourism does it, but it was an incredible visit. I learned more about third world healthcare and working conditions today than you could from reading a thousand books.
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