Photos: The women who scavenge for gold at the top of the world | Hindustan Times
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Photos: The women who scavenge for gold at the top of the world

Updated On Mar 09, 2020 03:51 PM IST

Living with their families in shacks in a gold shantytown in the Andes, women, known as "pallaqueras," which roughly translates as 'gold-pickers,' make a living gleaning gold from rubble. Teetering high above the ground, they stoop and flip over the rocks, their keen eyes scanning the lumps for a glimmer of gold. Anything promising they pocket, and take back to process and sell to black-market dealers whose stalls line La Rinconada's main street. The quantities each woman collects are tiny, but thousands of them are looking - some estimates say there are more than 15,000 pallaqueras in Peru.

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Eva Chura, 42, a 'pallaquera’, strikes rocks that were discarded from a mine, in search of gold, in the town of La Rinconada, the Andes, Peru. Living with their families in shacks in a gold shantytown in the Andes, these women make a living gleaning gold from rubble. They are called “pallaqueras” which roughly translates as ‘gold-pickers.’ (Nacho Doce / REUTERS) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Mar 09, 2020 03:51 PM IST

Eva Chura, 42, a 'pallaquera’, strikes rocks that were discarded from a mine, in search of gold, in the town of La Rinconada, the Andes, Peru. Living with their families in shacks in a gold shantytown in the Andes, these women make a living gleaning gold from rubble. They are called “pallaqueras” which roughly translates as ‘gold-pickers.’ (Nacho Doce / REUTERS)

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Zinc houses stand in La Rinconada. The men of La Rinconada bar all women from the mines dug beneath the rock. The men say the female spirit of the mine, which is located below a glacier called La Bella Durmiente, or The Sleeping Beauty, would be jealous and angry if women were to try to steal her riches. So instead, the women take turns to scramble up onto piles of black scree that the men have dumped. (Nacho Doce / REUTERS) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Mar 09, 2020 03:51 PM IST

Zinc houses stand in La Rinconada. The men of La Rinconada bar all women from the mines dug beneath the rock. The men say the female spirit of the mine, which is located below a glacier called La Bella Durmiente, or The Sleeping Beauty, would be jealous and angry if women were to try to steal her riches. So instead, the women take turns to scramble up onto piles of black scree that the men have dumped. (Nacho Doce / REUTERS)

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Eva Chura breastfeeds her three-month-old son Alizon, as she eats inside their room in La Rinconada. "In a week sometimes I can get 1 gram or 2 grams of gold," Chura said. "If I'm lucky it can sometimes be 20 grams, but that's down to luck." She further added, "Sometimes there's gold, other times no. At the moment it's very low.” (Nacho Doce / REUTERS) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Mar 09, 2020 03:51 PM IST

Eva Chura breastfeeds her three-month-old son Alizon, as she eats inside their room in La Rinconada. "In a week sometimes I can get 1 gram or 2 grams of gold," Chura said. "If I'm lucky it can sometimes be 20 grams, but that's down to luck." She further added, "Sometimes there's gold, other times no. At the moment it's very low.” (Nacho Doce / REUTERS)

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Eva Chura and another pallaquera, smoke and drink anise while chewing coca leaves, as part of a ritual for searching for gold performed before a shift, in La Rinconada. "I don't count my husband, because he is no help as a father or a husband," Chura said. "I'm the papa and the mama. ... We don't want for anything. We have everything." (Nacho Doce / REUTERS) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Mar 09, 2020 03:51 PM IST

Eva Chura and another pallaquera, smoke and drink anise while chewing coca leaves, as part of a ritual for searching for gold performed before a shift, in La Rinconada. "I don't count my husband, because he is no help as a father or a husband," Chura said. "I'm the papa and the mama. ... We don't want for anything. We have everything." (Nacho Doce / REUTERS)

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A pallaquera searches for gold as she strikes rocks extracted from a mine. To extract gold from the rocks the men and women use mercury, a toxin which they rinse with melted ice from the glacier. The water flows down the mountain into pools, puddles and rivers. (Nacho Doce / REUTERS) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Mar 09, 2020 03:51 PM IST

A pallaquera searches for gold as she strikes rocks extracted from a mine. To extract gold from the rocks the men and women use mercury, a toxin which they rinse with melted ice from the glacier. The water flows down the mountain into pools, puddles and rivers. (Nacho Doce / REUTERS)

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Yaquelin, 10, the daughter of Eva Chura, smiles as she picks up a piece of ice by the entrance of their home in La Rinconada. The fragments of gold these people produce have, at least in the past, made their way into supply chains of firms including phone makers and jewellers. In 2018 a Swiss refinery that had been taking the metal for years stopped after Peruvian prosecutors alleged the company that collected it was a front for organised crime. (Nacho Doce / REUTERS) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Mar 09, 2020 03:51 PM IST

Yaquelin, 10, the daughter of Eva Chura, smiles as she picks up a piece of ice by the entrance of their home in La Rinconada. The fragments of gold these people produce have, at least in the past, made their way into supply chains of firms including phone makers and jewellers. In 2018 a Swiss refinery that had been taking the metal for years stopped after Peruvian prosecutors alleged the company that collected it was a front for organised crime. (Nacho Doce / REUTERS)

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Chura cleans her three-month-old son Alizon in her room. Now, Chura and others in La Rinconada say the gold supply is running out in this area. “It’s not like it used to be. That’s why so many ugly things happen,” she said. Miners have been shot dead in the tunnels; young women are trafficked into brothels; fights are common. (Nacho Doce / REUTERS) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Mar 09, 2020 03:51 PM IST

Chura cleans her three-month-old son Alizon in her room. Now, Chura and others in La Rinconada say the gold supply is running out in this area. “It’s not like it used to be. That’s why so many ugly things happen,” she said. Miners have been shot dead in the tunnels; young women are trafficked into brothels; fights are common. (Nacho Doce / REUTERS)

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Luis Miguel, 3, who is the son of Eva Chura, plays inside their room. When police or other authorities come to town to try to enforce the law or restrict mining, they have been threatened by miners with the dynamite used to blast open the tunnels. The women join the protests too - some say the men force them to. (Nacho Doce / REUTERS) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Mar 09, 2020 03:51 PM IST

Luis Miguel, 3, who is the son of Eva Chura, plays inside their room. When police or other authorities come to town to try to enforce the law or restrict mining, they have been threatened by miners with the dynamite used to blast open the tunnels. The women join the protests too - some say the men force them to. (Nacho Doce / REUTERS)

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