Rinconada. Glacier gold

Description

Located under a glacier in the Andean region, 5,500 meters above sea level, 'la Rinconada' is the highest gold mine in the world. Despite the lack of oxygen and challenging temperatures, 20,000 people live in the nearby shantytown. Their job is to dig through the ice and rock to extract the precious gold. The inhabitants live without running water, sewers or heating and in the midst of their own excrement and rubbish. Adding to this deplorable sanitary situation, the widespread use of mercury in the mining process means that la Rinconada is a time bomb threatening the ecology of the entire region.

Runtime

29 min

Subjects

Geography

Genre

Date of Publication

2003

Database

Alexander Street

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