We left La Paz on a night bus destined for Potosi, Bolvia; the World’s Highest City. At an elevation of 4090m (13420 ft), Potosi is a city that literally takes your breath away. We didn’t really know much about Potosi before we arrived but we quickly learned a lot about the large mining town. Potosi used to be the wealthiest and most prosperous city in Latin America. And it wasn’t only at the top for a short time, it was there for about 200 years while its mines thrived. To this day the mountain is mined for silver, zinc and tin (and some other minerals but in less quantity). But it is not privately owned like the mines we know in Canada. Instead the mine is owned by the government of Bolivia and miners pay a tax to the government to extract the ore independently, meaning that they all work for themselves. When they extract an amount of ore that they know will earn them some money they sell it to privately owned refineries for a fixed price per ton depending on the grade and value of the mineral at the time. We were quite interested in learning more about the mines so we sought out some ex-miners who now run tours into the mine. Our tour started early with a short stop at the local miner’s market where we bought a few gifts to give the miners underground during our tour. Popular items include pop, coca leaves and dynamite! So we bought one of each to hand out during the tour. After the miners market we suited up in our mining gear and headed over to a refinery to see where the ore is processed. We weren’t at all shocked to see how run-down and unsafe the refineries were; lack of safety regulations is pretty standard in Bolivia. We continued on to the entrance of the mine where there is no shaft and elevator to plunge the miners into the earth, instead miners walk straight into the mountain and a maze of tunnels leading up, down and every which way takes them to their claims. Our guide, Pedro asked us to chew a lot of Coca leaves as it would help us to get over a few of the really tight spaces we were about to go through. There were a couple apprehensive people in our group (Courtney being one of them) but in the end everyone made it deep into the mountain. Pedro said the toughest part is the first 5 minutes of entering the mine, after that if you are fine you can stay in there for as long as you want. The first portion of the mine was fine: you could walk upright and breathe fairly easily but it wasn’t until we started to descend that the spaces got a lot tighter and the air became stuffy and thick with dust. We wore bandanas to stop ourselves from inhaling the dust but we know we would have been inhaling some of the other chemicals found in the air (or lack there of) down there. There are no man made ventilation systems, only the current tunnels act as pathways for fresh outdoor air to reach the miners. The deeper we went, the more difficult it became to breath, but within reason and we were not in danger at any point. After getting used to the darkness the mines quietness became almost pleasant. I (Courtney) didn’t mind when we were walking or almost crawling, it was when Pedro would stop and talk was when it became more real (and scary) about where we were and how far we were from sunlight. We met some miners who were prepping to start excavating a new claim. Claims here are interesting to say the least. Basically if you find a vein of a mineral first it’s yours. Pedro told us a story of two miners who fought over a really high grade claim of silver back in 2000. The miners were both old veterans and unfortunately their greed got the best of them. Things got so out of hand that they were planting (and exploding) dynamite to scare and sabotage the others’ claim. Pedro said a lot of his friends were hurt and some even hospitalized during the feud but luckily no one was killed. The guys we met were surveying the area for new veins. We then visited El Tio, a statue of the devil that the miners worship. Pedro told us how important El Tio is to the miners and then poured a little of 96% alcohol on the ground for Pachamama and then for El Tio while he prayed for lots of minerals for the miners. Pedro then went around and wished something nice for each one of us. We then each had a turn at the 96% proof alcohol. It was so strong as soon as it touched our lips it felt like they were burning off. Not something I would recommend anyone drinking on a regular basis yet the miners drink a bottle of it each Friday. After we worshiped the devil we walked through some more tight areas until it opened up to where two other miners were working. Pedro explained how the average life span of a miner in Potosi is only 40 or so years old. He also said with this in mind that being a miner is a sought after profession due to the income and the status a miner has in the community. Only men are miners as it’s bad luck for women to work there. It was hard to hear that some boys start as young as 12 years old. We didn’t see anyone too young but met a miner who had been working there for over 30 years. Continuing our trip through the tunnel we had about 500 m to go. We rounded a few more corners we (mostly Courtney) was so happy to see the light at the end. The tour was a very interesting experience that we will not soon forget. After experiencing being in a mine for two hours we can really appreciate miners and their families.
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