The mines of Potosi (a.k.a. Hell on Earth)

First, a quick history lesson.... The Spanish first discovered rich silver deposits in Cerro Rico (Rich Mountain) in what is now Bolivia in 1546. This quickly led to the establishment of the Potosi townsite at its base. The silver deposits soon proved so rich that Potosi grew to become the largest and wealthiest town in the Western Hemisphere, despite being at a staggering altitude of over 4000m. (Cerro Rico´s peak is 4700m).

Of course the Spanish didn't want to get their own hands dirty, so soon had quite a few Indian (Quechua) and negro slaves working in the mines... Conditions in the mines were awful... Silicosis from inhaling the dusty air, cave-ins, explosive gases, poisons from mineral processing (the use of mercury to separate the ores, involving getting workers to trudge around in the mercury/crushed ore mix, was common) plus various other risks have so far claimed the life of around 8,000,000 miners in the mines of Potosi. No that´s not a typo, that's 8,000,000 people, or more than 47 people a day for the last 461 years.

The mines were so loaded that their extraction was arguably the catalyst that spawned the capitalist system - in that the wealth generated by the Spanish from the mines was enough for Spain to start loaning money out to other countries in large quantities, the first time one nation had been rich enough to do so.

And now the present....

Cerro Rico - The men eat the mountain, and the mountain eats men

Potosi is still the highest city in the world. The 200,000 odd residents somehow breathe fine in the oxygen depleted 4,000m ASL air... though low-altitude loving visitors like me tend to wheeze and gasp around the ancient streets. The mines of Cerro Rico are still operational (though now days they´re digging up ¨completos¨, a less valuable ore blend of nickle, lead and silver, not the rock-solid pure silver the Spanish started to dig up).

There are still around 15,000 miners working in the mountain each day. Working conditions are still appalling. Around 50 miners die each year (in the mine - that doesnt count silicosis and other mine related health complications). The life expectancy of a Bolivian miner in Potosi is 45. Why is this so? Unlike many other places, there is no one mining company responsible for extracting the mineral, and looking after the workers. The mine is run on a co-operative system - basically any Bolivian wannabe miner can rock up at the mountain, start digging, and sell what he can dig up to the mineral processing companies located at the base of the hill.


This has resulted in miners working in small groups (usually 10 - 15 related family members or close friends), by whatever mean necessary. There are no geologists, no engineers or any trained professional mining industry people at all involved in the extraction of the rocks. The miners are all individually responsible for their own protective equipment, and as most are dirt poor, they often have have no gloves, face masks or basic protective gear. Though it is not allowed, there is no policing of who is working in the mine. Miners often start to help in the mines as young as 9 years old, and can graduate to shovel swinging, dynamite exploding pros by the age of 13.



Some of the more creative groups take tourists into the mines as a bit of a sideshow, and as an extra income supply - which is how I came to be inside the mountain.










So whats it like in there now? - Crazy. Think mega mega unsafe, e.g. bits of roof collapsing everywhere; improvised bracing of the tunnel ceilings cracked under the strain of tons of rocks above; dodgy, low and narrow hand dug tunnels, no accident prevention or emergency response system of any kind, no ventilation, no maps and no communication between different groups - and then add 15,000 untrained, uneducated miners running around with no plan exploding dynamite everywhere each day.

Plus the work itself is extremely primitive. Not much has changed in the last few centuries. The miners basically blow the rock with dynamite, then go in with shovels, wheel barrows and hand trolleys and cart the stuff out by hand. That's a lot of work when you consider they may be 2 hours walk/crawl/climb inside the mountain.

Emergency prevention system, Bolivian style. This is Tio (´Uncle´ in English), the God (or Devil) of the mine. The miners prey to Tio, and give him offerings of ciggarrets, booze and coca leaves to chew. Every so often they make sacrafices to him in the form of slain Llamas. With this devotion on offer, the miners know Tio will look after them, and grant them rewards of rich minerals to extract.






The miners buy their tools and equipment, and coca leaves to chew, from a market at the base of the hill. Anyone can buy anything. A stick of TNT, with detonator, fuse and Ammonium Nitrate (makes the bang bigger) costs 17 Bolivianos (AUS$2.70 ). It´s not strange to see a 10 year old kid running errands for his group, trudging up the hill with a backpack full of high explosives.

The tour guides (miners when there are no tourists) prepare the high explosives, a macho show for our viewing pleasure (or terror, depending on the individual.) Shortly after they had lit the fuse, they played around with the ticking timebomb, jokingly shoving it down some unsuspecting victim´s pants and tossing it around like a hot potato.

When there´s no money for boots, gloves and gas masks, investing in environmental impact control doesnt rate very highly. Sludge from the mineral processing runs straight into the river. And has done since 1546....

So anyone keen to visit Potosi? While I don't at all regret doing the tour, I should warn that it may be something you wont enjoy until its over. If anyone still wants to go, don´t expect to be wrapped in cotton wool.... actually, expect to have someone put a ignited stick of dynamite down your pants.... seriously. Anyhoot, while it wasn't much fun I am glad I did it, it was an unforgettable experience for sure. And I´ll never whinge about how hard my job is again....

Big ta to Bonnie for all the photos, and for putting her camera (not to mention her life) on the line....