Cerro Rico as seen from Potosi

High up in the remote desert plains of the Bolivian altiplano lies a city whose unimaginable wealth and large-scale industrial exploitation once placed it at the heart of the South American continent. The silver deposits found in the hills of Cerro Rico provided the means and the inspiration for the industrialisation of Europe.

Conditions in the mines have not improved markedly since colonial times. Cerro Rico remains an industrial area of considerable activity, but the workers are too poor to buy proper equipment. The mines are still crudely dug and badly ventilated. Pick-axes and Davy lamps are used instead of drills or torches. Individual seams are often dug vertically and descended using hands and feet. Rail roads exist, but containers filled with ore have to be pushed manually.

Unsurprisingly, life expectancy for a miner in Potosi is a little less than 40 years.

A miner coming out from a gallery

Workers unloading mineral extracted from inside Cerro Rico

Silhouette of old mining machinery in Cerro Rico

A miner's family gathering outside the galleries entrance

A widower outside the gallery entrance. Women are not allowed inside the mountain as they are believed to bring bad luck

Coca leaf sellers at the miners market outside Potosi

A miner preparing a stick of dynamite

Miners during a break to change the coca leaf

A miner chewing coca leafs

Miners during a cigaret break

Statue of 'El Tio', the representation of the devil adored by the miners while inside Cerro Rico

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