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Why Miners Risk Their Lives To Get Sulfur From An Active Volcano | Risky Business - YouTube
Channel: Insider News
[1]
Narrator: Hundreds of miners work inside
[3]
an active volcano here in Indonesia,
[7]
battling toxic fumes all day long.
[12]
They're mining sulfur,
[13]
which locals call "devil's gold."
[16]
Working conditions here are so dangerous,
[19]
many miners don't live past 50 years old.
[27]
Narrator: Miners like Mistar carry up to
[29]
200 pounds of sulfur on their backs
[31]
up and down these steep cliffs.
[34]
And Mistar has been doing it for 30 years.
[43]
Narrator: The sulfur is used in everything
[45]
from matches and rubber
to cosmetic products.
[48]
It's even what makes our sugar white.
[56]
Narrator: But most of the world's sulfur
[57]
comes from oil and gas refining,
[59]
making volcanic mines like
this relatively obsolete.
[63]
Yet these miners are still working,
[65]
earning about $12 to $17 a day.
[68]
Because in this remote part of Indonesia,
[70]
it's one of the better paying jobs.
[81]
Narrator: So why is this form of
sulfur mining still happening,
[84]
and what makes this such a risky business?
[122]
Narrator: This is as far as
Mistar can go on his bike.
[127]
There are no roads to the crater,
[128]
so he has to walk the rest of the way.
[132]
It's a 2-mile hike up to
the ridge of Ijen volcano.
[141]
He takes only his basket and a crowbar
[143]
down into the 1,000-foot-deep crater.
[153]
Narrator: Here, he faces the
volcano's extreme environment.
[158]
The air can reach over
100 degrees Fahrenheit.
[162]
And he works near one of the world's
[163]
most toxic volcano lakes.
[189]
Narrator: And there's the smoke.
[220]
Narrator: He battles two
types of sulfur smoke.
[222]
The first comes from
deep inside the volcano
[225]
and is channeled through these pipes.
[237]
Narrator: While mining
company PT Candi Ngrimbi
[240]
owns a license to run the mine,
[242]
the miners are freelance contractors,
[245]
so they have to pay for their own gear.
[247]
And many can't afford gas masks.
[250]
Instead, they use handkerchiefs
[251]
or towels dipped in water
[253]
to keep the sulfur powder from sticking.
[257]
The second type of smoke
is even more dangerous.
[259]
It comes from the volcanic
gases below the acidic lake,
[263]
and it can be deadly.
[265]
So if miners see big clouds
[267]
of thin, white smoke coming from the lake,
[269]
they have to evacuate.
[277]
Narrator: That's why Mistar
needs to get here so early.
[279]
The winds pick up through the day,
[281]
pulling more white smoke
towards the miners.
[284]
Both types of smoke have
lasting health effects.
[306]
Narrator: But the smoke
from inside the volcano
[308]
is crucial for sulfur production.
[310]
This is how it works.
[312]
When the superhot smoke
hits the cooler air outside,
[315]
it condenses liquid
and drips off the pipe.
[330]
Narrator: As it solidifies and cools,
[333]
the sulfur will turn yellow,
[334]
and miners can begin chipping off blocks.
[338]
It's the sulfur's two colors
[339]
that give it the name devil's gold.
[342]
Miners use their bare
hands to move these blocks.
[345]
Although touching solid sulfur frequently
[347]
can cause rashes and blisters,
[350]
Mistar says that as long
as it's cool and yellow,
[352]
the sulfur is fine to touch.
[366]
Narrator: Pre-pandemic, the miners
could extract up to 25 tons daily,
[370]
but since 2020, they've been
working in two separate shifts
[373]
to socially distance.
[375]
That's lowered the miners' capacity
[376]
to only 10 tons of sulfur a day.
[380]
Once he fills his baskets,
[382]
Mistar hoists them up on
his shoulder to hike back.
[385]
But that sulfur is not a light load.
[392]
Narrator: That's about 154 pounds.
[395]
Mistar himself weighs just 132.
[403]
Narrator: Some of the younger miners
[405]
can carry up to 200 pounds in one load.
[421]
Narrator: They have to haul it
up the steep walls of the crater.
[437]
Narrator: Some do the
treacherous hike in flip-flops.
[461]
Narrator: Once he reaches
the rim of the crater,
[463]
Mistar can transfer the
sulfur to his trolley
[465]
and begin the 2 miles back.
[467]
And he'll do this trip
a second time today.
[485]
Narrator: PT Candi Ngrimbi,
the mining company,
[488]
also owns this weighing station
[490]
and the factory where the sulfur ends up.
[496]
At the factory, workers boil the sulfur
[498]
and run it through a series of filters.
[500]
They have to remove any contaminants
[502]
like sand or dirt.
[504]
Then they pour it out onto
the factory floor to cool.
[508]
The sulfur is loaded into sacks
[510]
and sent to sugar factories nearby.
[513]
It's processed into sulfuric acid,
[515]
the world's most commonly used chemical.
[518]
It's used in everything
[519]
from matches, fireworks, and gunpowder
[521]
to detergent, paper, and batteries.
[524]
It's what makes sugar white.
[526]
And it's an essential ingredient
[527]
in rubber products and even winemaking.
[530]
But 98% of the world's sulfur
[533]
comes from oil and gas refining.
[535]
It's a byproduct of refining,
[537]
and oil companies are required by law
[539]
to process it safely.
[541]
What's created is a lot of pure sulfur --
[543]
a purity that's necessary
[545]
for making products like fertilizer.
[547]
Today, the sulfur
industry from oil and gas
[549]
is worth almost $13 billion
[552]
and is expected to keep growing.
[555]
And it's left natural mines
and volcanoes unnecessary,
[559]
especially since mined
sulfur isn't as pure.
[561]
It can be acidic or contain sand.
[564]
Yet Ijen is one of the only
places left in the world
[567]
where people still mine sulfur this way.
[570]
So why do they do it, despite the danger?
[573]
For the mining company,
it's easier and cheaper
[575]
to get sulfur from Ijen.
[576]
For the sulfur miners,
the pay is a lot more
[579]
than other jobs on the
island, such as farming.
[610]
Narrator: The mining company pays
on the weight of their loads.
[613]
They get about 9 cents per kilo.
[615]
With two loads, Mistar can make $17 a day.
[619]
The mining company did not respond
[621]
to our request for comment
[622]
on why the miners are paid so little
[624]
for what's considered
[624]
one of the most dangerous
jobs in the world.
[627]
Another possible reason
this mine is still open?
[630]
Tourism.
[635]
At night, visitors flock here
[636]
to see the blue flame from the sulfur gas.
[639]
During the day, tourists hike up
[641]
to take in the vistas.
[643]
Protected with their gas masks,
[644]
they watch miners work
without masks of their own.
[648]
Some miners are now becoming tour guides
[650]
or making sulfur souvenirs,
[652]
but most keep working as they always have.
[714]
Narrator: At the end of the
day, Mistar returns home
[716]
to eat dinner with his family and rest.
[720]
Ijen loons over them,
[721]
a symbol of how Mistar provides
for his family's lives,
[725]
while it slowly takes his.
[727]
A heavy weight to carry on his shoulders.
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