03.08.2024
Leftover Emeralds: The Dream Of Colombia's Poor Miners
One man's trash can very well become another man's treasure in the Colombian town of Muzo, the emerald capital of the world. In this small community in the foothills of the eastern Andes mountains, multinational mining company Esmeralda Mining Services (EMS) deposits tons of earth it has processed from its operations into a cage-like enclosure. A few times a month, EMS allows hundreds of miners -- known as "guaqueros" or treasure hunters -- to search through the detritus and take home any precious stones they find. Many emerald hunters bring their own shovels and sacks. After filling the bags with as much earth as they can carry, they haul the bags down to a nearby stream and filter through the findings to see if any emeralds are hidden inside. The enclosure remains open for about four hours at a time, and by the end, many return home empty-handed more often than not. Colombia is one of the world's largest producers of emeralds, with exports of the gems totaling $122 million in 2022, according to the National Federation of Emeralds. However, most of the profits go toward multinational mining corporations or powerful mining families. The current structures date back to the 1980s when rival emerald miners unleashed a "green war," which killed thousands in this region in central Colombia. Many believe EMS could do more to give back to the impoverished community around the mines. Credit: AFP
Poverty deprives people of adequate education, health care and of life's most basic necessities- safe living conditions (including clean air and clean drinking water) and an adequate food supply. The developed (industrialized) countries today account for roughly 20 percent of the world's population but control about 80 percent of the world's wealth.
Poverty and pollution seem to operate in a vicious cycle that, so far, has been hard to break. Even in the developed nations, the gap between the rich and the poor is evident in their respective social and environmental conditions.
Poverty and pollution seem to operate in a vicious cycle that, so far, has been hard to break. Even in the developed nations, the gap between the rich and the poor is evident in their respective social and environmental conditions.
