Gold may not be as well known as Venezuela’s oil reserves, but the country’s ground does harbour this precious metal in significant quantities. In an effort to diversify Venezuela’s economic sources, the government established in 2016 a sizable mining development zone that spans the country’s geographic centre. After another seven years, there is a significant increase in the number of mines that are excavating for various minerals, including gold, diamonds, copper, and others.
The Mining Arc of the Orinoco is beset with violence and cloaked in mystery because many miners operate outside of or on the boundaries of the law. This has led to a proliferation of criminal activity in the region. They provide regular Venezuelans with attractive employment opportunities, but the working conditions are deplorable. At an underground mine in the state of Bolivar, operators use dynamite to break up rocks approximately 260 feet (80 metres) below the surface, where people descend each day to toil in oppressive heat without any protective gear.
The miners start their average day by tying themselves to a thick steel wire and holding on as best they can as they descend around 200 feet (60 metres) down a shaft into a world where headlamps are the only source of light. They go down a quasi-ramp while wearing shorts, flip-flops or rubber boots, and they have to bend at the waist the entire distance of 60 feet (20 metres). There, workers collect rocks and throw them into sacks so that they may be hauled above ground through pulleys and delivered to a mill where they are ground up.
Alfredo Arriojas, one of the miners, claims that he does not enjoy mining; yet, he has been working in the mines for more than two years with the hopes of purchasing a home and having enough money left over to “invest it in something good that gives me income.” According to the legislation, approximately half of the gold that is mined is required to be paid into state coffers; however, authorities as well as critics of the administration allege that unlawful mining is increasing. Those who campaign for rights claim that labor regulations are routinely broken and that there is widespread violation of human rights. Many miners are forced to reevaluate their profession as a result of the violence that occurs between opposing groups.
miners at yet another neighboring mine in Bolivar extract gold using open-pit operations on the surface. These operations require miners to spend long periods of time in close proximity to ponds that grow mosquitoes that can spread diseases such as malaria. José Rivas, who worked as an open-pit miner, claims that he is done with his job and wants to “just buy my house and work on something else.”
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