Coca and Dynamite - The Potosi Silver Mines

After an afternoon in the desert township of Uyuni, I headed to Potosi, where you can book yourself onto a tour of the local silver mines. The first stop was at a local market, to pick up some presents for the miners.


Don´t worry Mum, this is entirely safe and legal...

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Testing the dynamite...

Conditions in the mine were really quite amazing - pretty much everything was done by technology that´s been around since medieval times. Holes for dynamite blasting were chisiled by hand, rocks were lifted in buckets using ropes (I´m pictured doing this), the mining was done with pickaxe and shovel, and the ore and other rocks were removed in wheelbarrows (also pictured). The miners work nearly every day, seemingly powered mostly by coca leaves, and take home about 60 bolivianos (AU$10) a day. The tour was interestingly untouristy and informal.