The Potosi silver mines

"The most pitiful among men is he who turns his dreams into silver and gold."
~Kahlil Gibran

Wednesday, November 19th 2008

After finishing all the shopping and sending a big package home, it was time to take my backpack (which was considerably lighter now) and leave La Paz. The next destination was Salar de Uyuni, the famous salt flats, but there was another small detour on the way, the remote city of Potosi. Founded in 1546 as a mining town, it soon produced fabulous wealth, becoming one of the largest cities in the Americas and the world with a population exceeding 200,000 people. During that time it was also one of the richest cities in the world. But after 1800 the silver mines became depleted, making tin the main product. This eventually led to a slow economic decline. Still, the mountain continues to be mined for silver to this day. Due to poor worker conditions (lack of protective equipment from the constant inhalation of dust), the miners still have a short life expectancy with most of them dying around 40 years of age. It is estimated that in the past years roughly 8 million Indians died, "eaten" by the Cerro de Potosi— sometimes referred to as the Cerro Rico ("rich mountain").

Today the big mining companies have left the town and the local mines are operated by small groups of local miners who work collectively to produce what little silver that is still left under the ground. In an effort to find another source of income the city now uses the active mines as a tourist attraction. I reached Potosi early in the morning with Oded, Kathy and Dennis. We spent most of the morning waiting for the agencies to open up and looking for bathroom. finally at around 8:00 one of the agencies opened and we registered for a 5 hours tour that was supposed to start in half an hour. Since we were hungry, we went to eat breakfast in a nearby restaurant but although we explained to the owner that we are in a hurry, she took her time bringing out the food and I ended up running outside with an apple pie in a doggy bag. We boarded a small bus with about 20 other tourists and were taken to a receive our equipment that was composed of rubber boots, rubber jacket, over pants and a helmet with mining light. The next stop was to buy TNT. As it turns out, you can by TNT and detonators in the small market in Potosi. You don't need any certificate or special identification, in fact, many children come to by supplies for their fathers, brothers and uncles - including cases of dynamite. The reason we needed the TNT was that it is customary to give the miners you meet gifts and the best ones are explosives and soft drinks. After the shopping spree we returned to the bus and headed for the mines stopping for a short time in one of the plants to see how the local ore is processed

We spent the next few hours crawling in the tight dusty tunnels, smelling the gases of recent explosions and talking with real miners at their workplace. The first thing that comes to mind are the coal mines in Victorian times England. In Potosi, like England back than, you can find whole families (included teenagers) working hours and hours underground. It is hard to pass in writing how bad the working conditions are, how dusty and claustrophobic the mines are and how hard it is to stand hours and hours every days drilling by hand holes for the TNT, sorting the rubble and pushing the heavy loaded carts. I've been inside for only 2-3 hours and I was extremely happy when I saw the light in the end of the tunnel. Our tour in the mines started with a visit to the small mine museum which among other things included a statue of the "Devil of the mine" ,similar to other statues that are present in nearby mines, and that the miners treat with minerals, cigarettes the money. As we continued deeper, we saw up close and personal the men who works the mines and by talking to them learned that the main reason they work here is because of lack of alternatives but also due to the tradition that in the mining families put the family work in the mines before education or a chance for better life for the next generation.
We finally left mine to enjoy the sunlight and fresh air, blow up our remaining TNT (under the supervision of our guides) and returned to town to eat lunch leaving behind us the men in the mines who were just starting their long day in the dark...

Today Potosi is dying. "When a mine closes, all that's left is a ghost town," says the city's mayor. I am not sure that this is a bad thing...