The dusty figure is lowered slowly into the ground like a bucket into a well, armed with just a crowbar, a shovel and an old, unreliable headlamp.
In the surrounding countryside, bodies rise and sink from hundreds of holes just wide enough for a man. Children run between the rubble and the smell of cooking wafts from the makeshift shelters. Guards armed with hunting rifles stand by, turning the settlement of Betsinefe into a threatening scene. In the world of Madagascan sapphire mining, there are few rules.
Vast deposits
Sapphires were first discovered in Madagascar in the late 1990s, and already the Indian Ocean island is one of the world’s largest producers of the precious stones. Its 250-kilometre-long deposit is among the biggest in the world and has sparked a sapphire rush.
Activity at this informal, though not entirely illegal, mine in the southwest of the country was suspended recently by authorities after scuffles broke out between villagers and would-be miners flocking in from the rest of the island.
Says 19-year-old student Andry Razafindrakoto: “I came here to mine sapphires because it’s difficult to find work in other areas.”
When he sold his haul of stones for some four million ariary ($1,200), he bought his own equipment and today manages a small team of nine miners.
But success stories are rare.
Like most of his fellow miners, Albert Soja does not earn wages for his countless, gruelling trips underground. To make money, he must find and sell stones. “Just digging the hole itself takes time, almost two weeks. it can take months to find something interesting.” — AFP
