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# A Day in the Life of an Illegal Miner in Colombia

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/MNgEiQMr.m3u8" -->
## Video: A Day in the Life of an Illegal Miner in Colombia

[Watch (HLS stream): A Day in the Life of an Illegal Miner in Colombia](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/MNgEiQMr.m3u8) (2:37)

![A Day in the Life of an Illegal Miner in Colombia](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/MNgEiQMr/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2014-06-03. A day in the life of an illegal miner in Colombia_


---

Jul 27, 2023 4:45 PM UTC

---

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[All Videos](https://time.com/video/)

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### Photographing the Chilean Miners

[A Day in The \(School of\) Life](/video/lZlOVTYx/)

### A Day in The (School of) Life

---


## Transcript

21 year old Anderson Gomez is one of hundreds of illegal miners in Segovia, a village in the Antioquia region of Colombia. He moved here with his mother, drawn to the opportunities that the region's gold can offer. He now earns up to $ 630 a month. Nearly twice the minimum wage. [ FOREIGN ]. It's very hard work, but it is an adventure. Not everyone has done this. [ FOREIGN ]. An adventure, but a dangerous one. 12 people recently died in the collapse of an illegal mine in the western region of Colombia. 200 meters underground temperatures can reach 55 degrees Celsius. The air is filled with toxic gas and the work is done entirely by hand.

[ FOREIGN ]. The illegal worker works harder because he does it on his shoulders to extract the material. 10 to 12 times a day Anderson carries more than 80 kilos of rocks of the mine. The tunnels are so small, he walks half the way bent over double. [ FOREIGN ]. If I don't breathe, my body will give up on me, it will stop working. The first time Anderson worked in this mine, he only made it halfway through the climb, now he's learned to pace himself. [ FOREIGN ]. I'm calling my body to retrain my brain because I already feel dizzy, muscles stop working when there's a lack of oxygen. 12 hours a day, six days a week, Anderson and his co- workers extract rocks from the bowels of the earth, hoping to find a precious metal.

Can be lucrative, but they have no health insurance or job security. [ FOREIGN ]. I'd like to have an insurance. A fixed income, a schedule, a task ready for me. [ FOREIGN ]. The rise in international gold prices has caused illegal mines to mushroom in Colombia. Many are too small to attract investment from the state or large scale mining companies. So here in Segovia, many miners will continue their back breaking work in the search for those small nuggets that can change a man's fortune.

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