‘Looking for Their Death': Tragedy Highlights Informal Mining Conundrum in Colombia

Miners in the small, informal mines that proliferate — from Colombia’s Pacific lowlands to the central coffee-growing regions like Caldas to the Amazon — know the risks they face, from toxic gases, flooding, collapses, improvised explosives and other dangers. But they continue mining for lack of other economic options.
“If I work mining, I eat. If I don’t work, I don’t eat,” said Leonardo Mejia, the owner of the Don Leo mine, on May 20 between meetings with government officials and the miners at the site.
https://globalvoicesonline.org/2015/06/06/looking-for-their-death-tragedy-highlights-informal-mining-conundrum-in-colombia/