Colombia: female miners on the hunt for the coveted emerald that will change their lives

Hundreds of meters deep, in tunnels dug into the earth that reach where water is scarce. oxygen and the heat is so stifling that it is nauseating, the hammers drill in search of something green that shines. The hands that hold those tools are those of a group of 200 women Colombian women who make their way, hunting for emeralds, in a world traditionally of men.

The hope of finding a gem that will solve their lives or, at least, feed their family pushed them to dedicate themselves to the extraction of that precious stone, iconic of Colombia, which is recognized for its value and particular quality in everything. the world. Which does not mean that it is a source of wealth for everyone.

“There are days, weeks, months and even years when one does not make even a million pesos (US$253)”says Yaneth Forero, a 52-year-old miner and single mother of four children, outside a sinkhole that she opened herself with the help of iron tools and explosives.

“Life is hard here, even though it is a place where quality emeralds have come from Dubai”he emphasizes.

Several of the largest emeralds in the world are Colombian. In 1995, the country obtained a Guinness Record for the largest crystal extracted to that date with a weight of 7,025 carats (1.4 kilos). Colombia is a world leader in production, although below Zambia. It exported US$122 million in these precious stones in 2022, according to the National Emerald Federation of Colombia.

In the town of Coscuez, where national extraction has been concentrated, everyone dreams of finding the gem that will change their luck. In the town, in the Boyacá region, 200 kilometers from Bogotá, the economy revolves around emeralds. In the area there is talk of a person who found something valued at US$177,000 and left town.

Forero keeps dozens of “trash” of emeralds—opaque and small at a low price—that he has collected in three months of work. He estimates she could receive about US$76 in total. With that money she cannot support herself, because she is in the care of her mother and his father, who depends on an oxygen cylinder due to the damage that mining caused to her lungs. So he looks for other sources of money in domestic jobs.

The large companies that operate in the west of Boyacá, in the center of the country, make investments of millions of dollars and find stones of great value. But the search is not easy in the informal mining to which women are dedicated with no more technology than an industrial hammer and gunpowder.

The miners sell what they find in the pits to merchants. It is a particular economy. Without certainty of when they will find emeralds and with little money, there are intermediaries who finance work tools or food resources with the condition that they will have priority when purchasing.

A man takes three kilos of opaque emeralds from his bag on a table, like the ones Forero found. Immediately, another merchant puts on a scale “quilatera” —to weigh in carats, the measurement used in jewelry—just a dozen small shiny, transparent stones. Despite the difference in quantity, its price can be higher due to quality: US$3,800.

Without a fixed salary or labor rights, the 200 women have organized themselves into the Association of Guaquera Women of Coscuez and ask the authorities to recognize them as artisanal miners.

In Colombia, the subsoil belongs to the State, so its exploitation requires permits. 990 titles have been granted for emeralds and another 576 applications are pending, according to a 2023 report from the National Mining Agency.

Luz Myriam Duarte Ramírez, president of the National Federation of Mines of Colombia, assures that they are asking the Government to legalize five mines—more than 30 in Coscuez—that are under the control of women like Forero.

They represent a 54% of the workforce in artisanal mining, more than 60,600 women, the majority dedicated to the extraction of gold, silver and platinum and to a lesser extent precious stones, according to data provided by the Ministry of Mines to the AP.

About three decades ago that was unthinkable. The most experienced miners say that it was previously believed that if they got close to the mines, the precious stones would be lost. “they hid.”

“It was pure machismo, they didn’t want to see us working” in the shafts, remembers Carmen Alicia Ávila, 57 years old, dedicated to mining for 38 years.

The situation changed over the years when the “green wars”, in which more than 3,000 people died between the 1960s and 1990s, when peace was signed between groups of emerald workers fighting for control of production.

Ávila says that some women were raped or touched for a bit of dirt in which they believed there could be emeralds. Their daily lives today continue to be harsh, especially for those who are also responsible for taking care of their children and the home.

Flor Marina Morales says that she used to arrive at three in the morning and then stay awake to send her children to school.

“Here one wears out because of the late nights, the cold and hunger. But I am very happy, because I know that my children were not included in this,” Morales admits. He only attended third grade. Her daughter is a psychologist and her son is a law student.

To enter the mines, women get ready with rubber boots, helmets with a flashlight and an industrial hammer, just like the men. Some must climb the mountain with ropes to the entrance of the sinkholes. Upon entering the narrow tunnel, in line, they detour along the branches where they continue drilling into the mountain. The earth and rocks that fall are accumulated in carts that are taken to the outside of the mine.

They wash a part of that earth in meshes and separate it looking for the green shine. What they find they put on a white cloth, offer it to a merchant and the profit—even if it is a few dollars—is distributed equally among the group of women present.

To “get ready,” as they say when they find high-value emeralds, Forero would buy a house and a business that would take her away from the mines. But when the search is fruitless she feels helpless. “I say: ‘Lord, in the Bible it is written that every worker is worthy of his salary…’, but unfortunately I have not had a good connection with the one above.”

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