Rio Malinowski
"Working as an artisanal miner is amazing, it's like working at the beach.
Well, it's exhausting, but what can we do to make a living — we go on, right?"
Well, it's exhausting, but what can we do to make a living — we go on, right?"
Policarpo Saire Suyo
'Uncle Coca', 72, from Cuzco
Policarpo Saire Suyo:
"I came to Madre de Dios when I was 16. I'm originally from Cuzco, from the empire. My surname Suyo has Inca roots. The Incas called their empire Tahuantinsuyo. In my native area, Paruro near Cuzco, the Inca traditions are still strong. The first Inca, Manco Capac, founded a village nearby."
The Father of the Incas, Manco Capac, was according to legend the son of Inti, the Sun God, symbolized by gold, and Mama Quilla, daughter of the moon, symbolized by silver.
Policarpo tosses sand with his spade to the tolva, where he washes the gold for 8–10 hours a day
Miners' cigarettes, Madre de Dios region
Policarpo Saire Suyo:
"Working as an artisanal miner is amazing, it's like working at the beach. Well, it's exhausting, but what can we do to make a living — we go on, right?"
Balance in a shop in la Pampa — pay for everything with gold and get a beer for 100 milligram
Doña Betty:
"Before there were no toilets here, no showers. And on the river they would rent you a tiny room, with wooden planks separating you from the neighboring room so you heard everything. It was expensive and you had to pay in gold — 15 grams for a room. And rats would jump over your head."
Dirty dishes under rain at one of the mines
Miner's fork, Madre de Dios region
A typical mine in the jungle, with an engine on a raft
Although the community of Doña Sarah fights illegal mining on their territory, for the state they are like illegal miners, the authorities don't distinguish between them.
Abandoned gold mining village with a barrel for mixing quicksilver into gold containing sand
Doña Sara
44, from Cuzco
Doña Sara:
"There was a huge hole, and they put six engines into it. When you looked down there, the workers seemed tiny. It was deep, about six meters deep. And still they brought new engines. This happened very quickly and it gave me the strength not to let them get this land. Over there, where the vegetation begins — they would have destroyed everything. We bought this land and we kept our eye on it, so that no engine was brought here. Many times we came from our camp with machetes and kicked off the illegal miners, it was really about fighting. And now? For the state we are like illegal miners, they don't distinguish between us. But we'll never leave this land."
The community of Doña Sara plants trees to fight deforestation in an illegal mining zone called La Pampa.
Trees planted by community of Doña Sara and trees that died in the gold mining process
