'Mud pigs' are Brazilian gold miners who manually dug a quarry in pursuit of the precious metal (7 photos)

One has only to look at the photo, as they are immediately drawn in the head terrible pictures of slavery, oppression and social inequality. After all, people in the photo, like tiny ants, they carry heavy bags on themselves, and all this - in absolutely impossible conditions of dirt, unsanitary conditions and danger (there is no question of any insurance).





Fantasy immediately paints us pictures of hunger and exhaustion, but no. This is not the United States or Africa, where the slave trade once flourished. All this is Brazil, and very modern. And the people in the photo are simple hard workers like you and me.

However, if you think about it, then they can also be called slaves: slaves of your dreams! Dreams of a rich, well-fed and very successful life. However, the world remembered them not as "dreamers", but as "mud pigs", after all, for the sake of the smallest golden sand, these people fiddled in the mud for days.



It all started back in 1979, when a Brazilian The farmer discovered gold on his plot. And this could be the start good movie, but it was the beginning of the gold rush.

Despite the fact that the farm was in an inaccessible Serra Pelada area, investigators were immediately called there. But you can’t hide an awl in a bag, so following the scientists in Serra Paelado the gold diggers also came out.



Scientists have decided: the farmer lived all his life on the largest Brazil gold mine! Generations of his family were not even aware of that they literally walk on a gold mine!

And here one can be surprised that neither the neighbors nor any of the builders haven't found gold before, but... you can get to this farm was only on foot: even off-road vehicles did not pass there. Now well ... there were about 20,000 gold miners who made a living farmer unbearable, pitching tents everywhere.

However, the man himself was not opposed: he quickly imbued the idea of finding gold. So pretty soon he, along with the others adventurers began to raise the soil to the surface. If you look at photo below, you can understand how painstaking and hard work done by these people!



Gold diggers dug a hole as deep as 400 meters! And all it is with your own hands. People literally dragged the earth on themselves, dragging heavy bags of earth up rope ladders! people just tied bags around their necks and dragged them on their hump, but ... not for myself.

Many adventurers quickly realized: to look for grains of gold in land is very unprofitable and difficult, so they began to work ... on other adventurers who paid their workers 20 cents a dirt bag. It was possible to earn 2-3 dollars per shift: not so hot, but as it is.

In fairness, for finding large nuggets reward was due. So... it wasn't all that bad: people worked and did not give up their work.



As a result, the staff of gold miners expanded to a record 100,000 Human! Men, women and even teenagers came here from all over. Brazil to try your luck.

During the entire existence of the mine, about 45 tons of gold. However, most of it passed by the state and got lost somewhere on the black market.



And personally I am amazed by the hard work of these people. They didn't have nothing: they literally dug the earth with their bare hands, working on clean enthusiasm!

It is said that many gold miners did not even have shovels: they simply shoveled the liquid mud into bags with their hands. Then they washed this earth and ... left themselves precious grains of gold.

Alas, in 1986 the dug canyon was flooded. They say that people somehow managed to upset the balance of water in this place.



Now you can also find gold prospectors here, but they work already licensed. Yes, and their technology is more modern than theirs. ancestors. Therefore ... the story of mud pigs has sunk into oblivion, but the story miners - continues.