Breathing Asbestos

This morning, after a mammoth “miners breakfast”, we headed off with about 20 other tourists to begin the mine tour. I was very nervous and unsure about my decision to go on the tour for a number of reasons. Firstly, I am not a big fan of tight enclosed spaces and I knew from reading about the tour that there was definitely some crawling and wriggling through mine shafts involved. Secondly, knowing that it was a working mine, and taking heed of the warning in the Lonely Planet, I couldn’t help but think of the very real risks involved – collapse, noxious gases, fire, explosions. Thirdly, I had a bit of a moral objection to going into someone’s workplace like that just to watch them work, particularly in the appalling conditions which I expected. Still, when in Rome…

The first stop was a storage place to don our protective clothing – oversized pants, jackets, helmets and headtorches. From here we were taken to the miners market – a market specifically for miners (and now tourists) to purchase equipment for the mines. This was one of the changes that occurred in the 30s when the miners’ cooperative began and while the miners were able to keep a large percentage of what they had mined, they had to provide all their own equipment including protective gear, lamps, food, water, coca leaves, and even dynamite. We bought some things for the miners (an obligatory tip) and were ferried to the mine.

Before entering, we looked at the production process of the minerals. I was incredulous at how close the mine and factory were to houses and the rest of the city. It appeared that it was not only the miners who would suffer health repercussions from these mines. As we entered the mine, our guide Julio greeted some of the miners and it was obvious he had a pretty good relationship with them. This made me feel a little more comfortable as well as the fact that Julio was an ex-miner himself and obviously knew the mines well, and the dangers involved.

 

The two hour walk through the mine varied between being able to walk easily, to being stooped and walking through water, to crawling on all fours, to slithering on your stomach. There was copper sulphate hanging down in stalactites, asbestos shards in the rock, and arsenic dripping off the ceiling making breathing difficult enough for one of our party to turn back. At times there were live wires hanging from the ceiling which we were strictly told not to touch as we waded through the water.

Suddenly, without any warning, an explosion rocked the narrow tunnel and our guide frantically got us down on the ground and told us to keep our heads down, as there were falling rocks and minerals. Three consecutive explosions boomed out from the dark tunnel. I was the most terrified I have ever been, deep in that silver mine, and tears  pricked my eyes as we tried to come to terms with the reality of being in a working mine with no OSH safety precautions. Of course, writing this now in retrospect, we were fine, but that is a difficult thing to believe when you are in an uncontrolled and unfamiliar environment. With our concerned guide checking on us, we pushed on to a level of the mine that reached 40 degrees. This temperature and high humidity was suffocating and it was painful to watch three men hand shovelling rock in this environment, one of which bared the scars and missing eye of a mining accident 5 years earlier.

With asbestos in our lungs and grime from head to toe, we appeared gratefully back out into the daylight, with a newfound admiration and disgust for mining industry. I will never again set foot in a mine, but I’m very glad that it is an experience that I have had.