Venezuela is known to have the world’s largest oil reserves, but its soil holds another valuable resource: gold.
The government in 2016 established a huge mining development zone stretching across the middle of Venezuela to diversify its revenue. Seven years later, there is a proliferation of mines burrowing for gold, diamonds, copper and other minerals.
The Mining Arc of the Orinoco is plagued with violence and shrouded in secrecy because many mines operate outside or on the margins of the law. They offer lucrative jobs for ordinary Venezuelans, but conditions are brutal.
At an underground mine in Bolivar state, operators use dynamite to loosen rocks some 260 feet ( 80 meters) below the surface, where workers descend daily to toil in oppressive heat with no safety gear.
The miners typically begin their day strapping themselves to a thick steel wire, holding on as best then can while dropping about 200 feet (60 meters) down a shaft, entering a world where headlamps provide the…
Source: AP PHOTOS: A proliferation of gold mines in Venezuela offers grueling, dangerous work
Category: International
