Archaeological
dating of Andean sites pinpoints the infancy of Colombian Emerald
crystal collecting and fashioning around the year 500 A.D. Indigenous
Indians in the area north of modern-day Bogotá mastered
drilling techniques, but never developed lapidary skills beyond
simple shaping. Apparently, they never attempted faceting. This
changed when Christopher Columbus and the Spanish conquistadors
arrived.
After the invading Spanish
army found Colombian natives with Emeralds, they gathered information
which enabled them to plan and execute large scale assaults against
the Indians in the Emerald-rich mountainous region north of Bogotá.
At the time (mid-1600's), the Muzo Indians controlled the region and
fought fiercely, but in vain, against the invading Spaniards. Today,
descendants of the Muzos, called guaqueros, persist in risking their
lives to dig for the gems while refusing to acknowledge anyone else's
rights to the stones. This, coupled with the exceedingly violent nature
of Colombia's society in the southern part of the country, provides
a volatile backdrop for the industry.
Today, the Colombia government nominally controls all but one Emerald
mine-the Muzo. The Muzo Mine, has alternated between private ownership,
public operation, and even British ownership. It is currently worked
under a 10-year lease to develop the 200 hectare (roughly 480 acres)
which comprise the primary Muzo deposit. Tecminas owns the lease until
2004, and their employees live and work in an armed camp.
Bandits and paramilitary patrols lie in wait along the two roads leading
to and from Muzo. They operate under two simple premises:
1. Passengers in vehicles traveling into the mines are carrying large
sums of cash, and,:
2. Those traveling out are carrying valuable Emeralds
These groups operate with impunity, are heavily armed, and have successfully
attacked armed convoys consisting of as many as fifty armored vehicles.
The
Muzo mine "operation" is similarly surreal. Emerald
deposits generally lie in calcite veins nestled in soft shale
near the earth's surface. Bulldozers make repetitive swipes at
the face of the sides of the steep valley slopes. There are several
hundred workers, or piedreros, who earn approximately $600 per
month.
In spite of the relatively
low wage, Colombians queue up to fill vacancies-principally because
of one fringe benefit - the monthly picando, when work crews surround
the bulldozers as they dump their scrapings, carefully looking for flashes
of white calcite. During the picando, workers are permitted to dig out
Emeralds with their hands and small picks. A representative of the families
who control Tecminas inspects their finds, selecting out the best chunks,
known as gangas en bruto, for the company's owners. The piedreros are
then allowed to pocket the remainder of their haul as a bonus for working
at Muzo. The intrigue does not end here. Tecminas bulldozers dump tons
of scraped shale and Emerald-bearing dirt into stream beds which carry
the effluent downstream toward thousands of expectant guaqueros below.
On average, four or five guaqueros die each week in fights over Emeralds,
women, and turf with more than a touch of alcohol, desperation, and
jealousy thrown in for good measure. Ironically, the piedreros and
guaqueros who brave and survive the violence of searching through
mounds of shale and streambed tailings must then run the paramilitary
and bandito-lined gauntlet along the roads from Muzo to Bogotá
to finally earn their prize.
