Deep inside mountain tunnels in Colombia where the heat is so intense it causes headaches, women with power tools are chipping away at boulders in search of gems
Wearing a headlamp, Margot Avila, 45, uses a hammer and chisel to loosen rocks from the tunnel of an informal mine near the town of Coscuez, Colombia, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. The rocks that break off the walls are carried outside in carts, washed and sifted in hopes of finding emeralds. Deep inside mountain tunnels where the heat is so intense it causes headaches, women with power tools are chipping away at boulders in search of gems.
Some of the biggest emeralds in the world have been mined in Colombia, including one weighing 3 pounds that broke the world record in 1995. In Coscuez, rumors circulate that one miner recently found an emerald that sold for $177,000, and left the ramshackle town forever. In her home outside Coscuez, Forero keeps some small, opaque emeralds that she has gathered over the past three months. She reckons that they are not worth more than $76 in all.
Working in the mines is tougher for women. Once they are done drilling in deep tunnels and sifting through rocks, they must care for their children and do domestic tasks that men are often reluctant to do. After they enter in a single file, they branch off in different directions and head into tunnels where each person has a designated area to drill. The rocks that break off the walls are carried outside in carts, washed and sifted through.
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