Photos By Date| Inside the Mines of Potosí | 1 | 2 | 3 |
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Note: For more information about these pictures, read about our guided tour of the Potosí mines.
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Miners Museum — Working our way around some piles of debris, we approach the entrance to the miners' museum, tucked away inside the mine itself. |
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Miners Museum — The museum contains artifacts and eerie wax figures depicting the history of the mining industry in Bolivia. This figure sits with a reproduction of a poster advertising the "latest shipment of negroes" available for sale...a chilling reminder of how we used to behave. |
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El Tio — The miners, though devout Catholics, traditionally erect (no pun intended) figures depicting the devil, often referred to as "El Tio" (meaning "Uncle"). They figure his home isn't far from where they're working, so he must own the minerals, and it's best to appease him with something in exchange. The more impressive "features" of the demonic figure are politely hidden from view in this photo, but to paraphrase Mel Brooks, "It's good to be the devil!" |
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At Work in the Mines — A miner hammers an iron rod into the wall to create a pocket for an explosive charge. Only the largest and most well-paid for, government-run mines can afford their miners drilling equipment; here, the work is done by hand, at a lethargic two inches per hour. |
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Very Coarse Veins — Deep inside the mine, a slender vein of mineral (most likely zinc) doesn't prove tempting enough for the miners. |
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Mine Fragments — Keith holds up a fallen piece of rock, made colorful by the presence of arsenic. If any zinc were present here, the amount would be so trace, it'd be worth less than a penny on the market. |
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Why You Don't See Fat Miners — Crawling on our bellies through an area with about 16 inches from floor to ceiling, which means about one inch from colorful pockets of arsenic and other toxic goodies. |
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El Tio Returns — Inside a neighboring mine, another tribute to The Dark One, this one not nearly as "endowed" as others we've seen, but every bit as disturbing. |
