Title:
Quechua Miner, Silver and Tin mine of Potosi, Bolivia.
Caption:
Mining is one of the few paid jobs in Bolivia outside of La Paz. In Potosi, ten percent of the population of 110,000
(most of them Quechua) works in the mines. Although dynamite has replaced black powder, technology has advanced little since the days of their ancestors the Incas. At an elevation of more than 4000 meters, the working conditions are among the harshest on the planet and life expectation in the mine does not exceed 40 years old. Here a
miner carry the rocks to be extracted out of the mine. Miners
chew coca leaves, a stimulant that curbs their hunger and gives them the
energy to work a full day on a mostly empty stomach.
