Why The Most Dangerous Silver Mine In The World Could Collapse | Risky Business

This mountain in Bolivia used to contain the largest amount of

silver

in the

world

, but over the last 500 years

mine

rs have unearthed al

most

every last bit. The Spanish colonizers forced the indigenous people to do this work in the 16th century. Generations later, it is the only job they know abroad. Today, men find primarily zinc, tin, and lead, but relentless mining has left this 15,000-foot mountain porous and unstable. If you look at aerial photographs of the mountain, you can see what look like giant holes at the top of the mountain. Since the

collapse

s the extinct volcano is infamously known as the mountain that eats men, it's all like that, why do so many people risk their lives inside a mountain on the brink of

collapse

and why has there been so little change for them since the colonial era at 13,000 feet?

Potosí is one of the highest cities on the planet Rich or Rich Mountain Towers above it Potosí, the richest place in Latin America in the 16th century, today it is one of the poorest Luciano lives at the base of the mountain with his wife in only one- There is no heating in the house, only electricity and a stove for cooking. Luciano is semi-retired, but to make ends meet he still

mine

s once or twice a week. About 40 percent of Potosí residents work in mining-related jobs and al

most

half of the population lives in extreme conditions. poverty more than three times the national average after 10 minutes the bus leaves Luciano at the mine um this is he supplies himself with alcohol and buys coca leaves that give him energy then he buys sticks of dynamite to use later there are almost 500 mines here But many are abandoned after entering the mine.

Luciano first makes an offering to El Tío or Uncle Benito. Some historians believe that the Spanish installed statues of the devil to scare the workers and instill discipline so as not to instill again. Legend has it that in 1544 an indigenous farmer named Diego Valpa discovered

silver

here while searching for his lost llamas, but it was the Spanish who excavated most of it when they conquered the Botosi in the 16th century. European engravings show how more than 13,000 local indigenous people and enslaved Africans were forced to work in the mines. Over the next 200 years, more than 40,000 tons of silver were shipped to Europe through the Spanish Empire, silver bars and coins.

We used this currency to finance the army and churches. Hundreds of years later, Bolivia's state mining company, Komibol, took over Cero Rico and when the price of silver fell drastically in the 1980s, Comeybol turned the mountain over to the indigenous people. of the region currently around 16,000 miners work here descendants of the same indigenous communities that worked here centuries ago 65 miles of tunnels connect the mountain between these rails were installed In the 16th and 19th centuries, miners still used simple tools such as a chisel and hammer to extract the mineral. Today, Luciano is cutting a vein of tin that is black, but to find larger pieces, he goes up to unexplored corners for what he needs.

Dinamita Luciano has to act fast since he is competing with other miners. He walks almost 200 feet away after activating the dynamite. We collect the broken rocks in bags that can weigh up to 90 pounds. An elevator pulls the minerals to where the mining cars are. The mortality rate inside small-scale mines like these is 90 percent higher than in industrialized countries. Many miners contract silicosis, a fatal lung disease caused by constant exposure to dust, usually after 10 years of working inside the mine. Luciano was hospitalized for more than a year because of it. Luciano is 52 years old, but most workers are no older than 40.

Fortunately, he has health insurance because he is part of one of the many mind-controlling cooperatives. Each cooperative has between 50 and a thousand members and all indigenous miners pay mainly monthly dues and a one-time membership fee that can cost up to a thousand dollars. Members may also hire contractors to work on their behalf. Sometimes these are other members of the Mining Cooperative, but sometimes their laborers and the whole. The group works together following, for example, a zinc vein or a complex or something mixed. The biggest benefit of cooperatives is that miners can keep whatever they find and

could

make a ton of money enough for themselves or their children to go to school.

Their children will still inherit. their membership in the Co-op, but instead of going underground and mining themselves, they only hire day laborers to work on their behalf, but the daily brewers are not part of the co-ops and do not receive any benefits, only a daily wage of so Just 10 US Dollars Luciano can earn around 70 on a good day mining lead, zinc or tin. Today you rarely find silver, most of it was mined in 1825, but sometimes you can find traces of it in the rocks, see all the minerals dumped in pits on the mountainside being sorted and then sold to intermediaries who are buyers of foreign companies.

The trucks are transported from Bolivia, a landlocked country, to ports in neighboring Chile. The unrefined minerals are then shipped abroad in 2021. Bolivia sold almost $1.3 billion worth of Zinc, its uses include car batteries, even paint and rubber. Most of it ends up in South Korea, where it is processed in factories. In addition to refining zinc, they can also extract indium, which is a mineral necessary for many touch screens and high-end technologies that are much more lucrative. Unrefined zinc from oblivion is exported. Bolivians do not receive money for the NDM they often export. It is treated as a defect thanks while mineral exports keep Bolivia afloat Decades of excavations have destabilized Cerro Rico now slowly sinking due to mining at the top, it is incredibly

dangerous

to be at the top of the mountain because landslides are increasing most common there, but it is also one of the places where there are the most remaining minerals and that is why many people are willing to take very high risks.

In 2014, a presidential decree was approved to stop excavation above 14,000 feet, but several cooperatives did not signed the agreement now some experts say that ceruico is like a piece of Swiss cheese with many holes. The cooperative minors are not coordinating where they are going to go, which Bane they are following, so a lot of structural problems can arise on the mountain when two miners work very close to each other following separate veins but not leaving enough Rock there to support the tunnel to whoever comes next The state mining company Komibol is in charge of keeping the mountains structurally safe even though it does not own the mines is Gregorio socano Kuro is a technician at comibo today he is supervising a funded project Gregorio wants Serico to remain a source of pride for Bolivians, but today it is an endangered

world

heritage site and the livelihood of thousands of people.

The locals are at stake is that from time to time Luciano visits this local cemetery today he is paying his respects to his late cousin Zacarías. Foreign historians estimate that around 8 million miners have died here from disease or accidents since the 16th century. Some tombs here are almost 200 years old, while Luciano has the support of the mines here prays to Jesus as Cerro Rico continues to loom over the city, source of Pride, fear and pain for foreign Bolivians