Went to one of the mines in Potosi this morning. It was a very interesting experience. I am not sure if I can call it good or bad, it was just interesting. Koala tours was the company I booked through, they did a great job. I can’t remember our guides names but they were knowledgeable and had decent English.

We started off in a bus from the office to a shop where we all changed into our mine garb, a hardhat with headlamp, pants and a jacket. They also had us leave our shoes and wear some galoshes. We all looked pretty funny. They also sold us bandanas to wear over our mouths to keep some of the dust out. I bought a bright red one, just in case of a cave in or I get lost I wanted to be as visible as possible.

Next stop was the Miners market. Here we are supposed to stop and buy presents for the miners. There are lots of options, but the most popular are dynamite and soda. We all bought our presents; I bought two packs of dynamite, two packs of gloves, and two bags of coca leaves. Others bought mostly the same sort of stuff.
Afterwards we all piled back into the bus and went to an ore processing plant. This was neat as we got to see what happens to the rock, it is crushed then run through a bunch of different chemicals (cyanide and calcium sulphate). Once they separate the mineral from the waste, it is shovelled into piles to dry before it is sent to Peru or Chile to be smelted. The difference between how much the concentrate is sold for compared to what the miners get paid is crazy.

Next up was the mine itself. There are four working levels in the mine we went to. We went to three of them. The first tunnel looks like any other mine, you see tracks heading into a hole in the side of a mountain. This is where the similarities to other mines I have been in end. We walked on the first level for about 10-15 minutes the roof ranged from about 4 feet tall to over ten feet in places. I had to crouch over most of the time. I tagged my head on the ceiling a few times, god thing I was wearing a hardhat. We all stopped and took a break before heading down to the second level. There are no elevators in this mine, we had to climb (read slide) down to the next level. Then we had to crawl, hands and knees for about ten minutes, it was pretty tight. If you are claustrophobic I do not think this would be a good part for you. We met our first miner on the second level. He had been working different mines for about 15 years. He was working for himself on seams that bigger groups had left behind. He only worked a few days a week, and was able to make enough for the rest of the week. We gave him a few gifts. Then we moved on to the next level, this was somewhat easier, as it was just another climb/slide down thing. There is a big hole in the side of the wall going down, that you can see the track below about 15 feet down. There is a little stick across it to keep you safe!!! Lol This level we met four or five more miners mining in different areas, and different minerals. We met a few other miners working for themselves and we also met guys from one of the big groups. The big groups take out rock in quantity( 40 tons/day) the small groups or solo miners take it out by quality( 20-30 KG/day). The solo guys actually make more but the big groups the pay is more regular.

I was getting really hot and it was really hard to breath when we were moving around. I had to take off the bandana, as I was starting to feel panicky, and it was making it harder to breath. Once I caught my breath I was alright. We started to head out and as the air got cooler I felt a lot better. The way out didn’t take very long and the only extra thing we did was stop and see the Tio. The have a god in the mines that represents the power of the earth underground. Some miners leave offerings for it, and it is supposed to give them good luck finding ore. It was kinda crazy looking. But interesting. The sunlight looks so bright after being down there even for a few hours. I can hardly imagine what its like doing that 6 days a week.

I am not sure if I can recommend doing the tour, it definitely is unlike any tour I have ever done before. Try it if you really want to, its not expensive and I think you can help out a few miners with the gifts. Also it will give you some perspective on what their life is like. I didn’t enjoy the trip but it was something I am glad to have experienced!!!

More later…