06.10.09 Visit to Cerro Rico Mines, Potosi

inside the Potosi mines

Greg trying his hand at hammering a hole for the dynamite

the infamous Tio, the undergound god of the miners

Greg preparing his dynamite- just look at his face!

Although the film ‘The Devil’s Miner’ was made over five years ago, we notice that conditions have remained the same for the miners on Cerro Rico mountain. They now work as a co-operative, earning as they find, but there are still accidents every day. We are stunned when, after we disembark from our minibus, we are encountered by Vanessa the little girl from the film, who is now around ten, selling mineral stones she’s scavenged, from a little wooden box. I am devastated when I learn that Basillo, now 19, is still working in the mines. He is also continuing to study, but it is tragic to know that he is still suffering such awful conditions to provide for his family. We buy a turquoise stone from Vanessa and continue up the track to the entrance of one of the mines. We carry with us gifts for the miners of bags of coca leaves, which they chew continuously to numb the pain they endure, biscuits for their kids and… a stick of dynamite! Yes, we were donating dynamite. It’s an expensive, but essential item to them, as they use it to blow up areas of rock surrounding the precious minerals.Greg’s in his element with the prospect of witnessing live explosions underground and the chance to blow up his own stick of dynamite outside, after our tour. We are led into the maze of rocky tunnels lit only by our headlamps. The dust hits us straight away but, unlike the miners who don’t wear masks or helmets for that matter, we are protected from the choking effects of the dust by face masks. The dank, sulphurous smell still gets through however and you get the distinct impression that this toxic environment is not designed for fragile human lungs. We meet a miner who transports tonnes of waste rock out the mine using a wheelbarrow which, in itself, would be dangerous work as there are many deep holes littering the tunnel walkways. He is unsurprisingly chewing coca leaves and we donate more from our stash to him. He works next to the statue of the Tio, which is eerie in this halflight, draped in colourful streamers with cigarette stubs hanging out it’s mouth and hundreds of coca leaves scattered round it’s base. We are led on to meet another miner who is hammering into the rock face in order to insert dynamite. This can take 2-3 hours just to reach the required depth. We are treated to witness the explosion once he has packed the dynamite into the hole and lit the fuse. Of course we wait several metres away from it and, to intensify the anticipation of the boom, we turn our headlamps off and sit in complete darkness. It’s loud, when it eventually comes, and we can feel the vibrations through our seats. We thank the miners with gifts and move on, through the tunnel maze, which, as we get deeper and further away from the entrance, feels more and more claustrophobic and thoughts of what would happen if there was a collapse and we couldn’t get out start to enter our minds. We needn’t have worried however because round the corner we see light at the end of the tunnel and the way out. It is a sobering thought however that many of these men work 14 hour days, 7 days a week, underground where there is no light, no reference to the outside world, and face the constant risk of dying from lung failure or being involved in an accident. We recover from the tour, breathing in fresh air and chatting with some of the miners’ wives who live just outside the mines, then the highlight for Greg- the chance to set off his own stick of dynamite. We drive to an empty part of the mountain and Greg and Mark prepare their explosions. We wait at the viewpoint as they hurry back, having lit the fuses. The boom is huge, a visible sound wave moves across the valley and a huge cloud of smoke immediately rises 20 feet tall. Greg jumps around, delighted as a little kid would be setting off his first banger!