Potosi

Originally I wasn´t planning to stay in Potosi but then I read a bit more about the city and decided it was worth staying for a day.

It´s the highest city in the world and used to be very very rich. The mountain nearby is full of silver and has been mined since before the Spanish came to South America. When the Spanish did come they, unsuprisingly, exploited the people and millions died in the conditions they were forced to work in the mines. This left Potosi smaller and without the riches it deserved. The mines are still running, however, and you are able to visit the working mines.

We first got our equipment - a very attractive set of blue waterproof trousers, jacket, boots and hat. Worryingly they were probably cleaner than the clothes that I was wearing at the time...

We then saw the processing plant. It seemed very basic, but did involve a lot of chemicals and had to grind the rock. Unfortunately Europe and other countries still make a lot of money because Bolivia doesn´t have the ability to complete the final part of the processing. They are trying to develop it and hopefully a plant will be built in Cochabamba soon.

And then we went to the mines. The first thing we saw was one of the wagons coming out of the tunnel filled with rocks and then we were following the tracks into the tunnel. It was, unsuprisingly, dark in the tunnels and they are supported by wood and by rocks at the tunnel entrance. All along the tunnels are pipes that carry pressuarised air for the drills. Apparently in the deeper parts of the mine were there is less oxygen the miners make small holes in the pipes and so they can get more air. We weren´t going down that far.

The wagons were going along the track and they were pushed by two men with two at the front guiding it. Each time one came past we had to move over to the side to let them pass and this meant that we got a chance to talk to the miners. I was shocked by how young some of them were and I asked our guide. He said they could start as young as 10 or 12 and later we met one who was 14. He had been working in the mines for 3 years and he looked much older than 14.

The miners are very superstious and above ground they are all Catholic but once they are in the mine they all worship the devil - called Tío. Each Friday (I think) they give coca leaves (they chew these to give them energy and it helps with the lack of oxygen) and alcohol to a statue that is made of him. We saw one and it´s a life-sized statue with a huge face and eyes and it´s covered in coloured streamers. On the floor at it´s feet there is a huge pile of coca leaves and bottles of alcohol. They worship him in the hope that they will mine more minerals and that they weren´t get killed in the mine.

Our guide told us the statistics and 22 people died last year in the mine. They use dynamite everyday and our guide explained that this can go wrong. Losing fingers can happen relatively easily - two wagons can crash or the hammer can be misaimed. The average life-expectancy of a miner is also very low - less than 56 years. Most die because of the dust they´ve inhaled. Many people work in the mines for a couple of years and then find other work because they want to avoid the same thing happening to them. Some of the miners are covered by health insurance, but many aren´t and the government only gives a pension to those who have worked more than 20 years.

It was really eye-opening going to the mines. It was like going back to 16th century Britain. Many people in Potosi have no choice but to work in the mines and it´s often a family business - which is why you get such young people in the mines. We were only walking around for an hour and a half but it was dusty and at some points you really felt you were struggling for air as you´re also over 4,000m above sea level. I can´t imagine working down there for hours every day of the week - it´s claustraphobic as very few of the tunnels you can stand up in.

It was an amazing experience to go into the mines and it makes you look twice at the silver being sold in the street when you think how little of the money goes back to those who dug it out of the ground.