Miners sulfur mines

• Miners sulfur mines

Inside the crater of Ijen volcano in eastern Java, Indonesia, miners work in the poisonous vapors of sulfur, which puts them at higher risk of respiratory disease. Vulcan Ijen rises to 2800m with a crater depth greater than 200m and a width almost kilometer filled with sulfuric acid.

About 200 miners every day make a living by using metal rods to break up the thick pieces of yellow sulfur, poured out of the pipes, laid down in the cracks.

The level of activity of the volcano was raised to the level of the Indonesian government, "combat readiness" in July 2012, and at the moment the warning remains in force. Residents and visitors were encouraged to stay away from 1, 5-kilometer area around the crater. Nevertheless, about 200 miners sulfuric mines still operate in the usual manner in Crater Lake, including toxic fumes.

is released by the molten sulfur condensation volcanic gases are routed through a network of ceramic tubes.

The sulfur, which in the molten state has a dark red, slowly poured out from the ends of the pipes and basins on the ground, getting as far as the cooling bright yellow color.

They load heavy sulfur pieces in baskets and carried them to the edge of the crater. Then miners carry the basket 90 kg weight over a distance of three kilometers per collection point.

Many miners have no protective clothing. Few are the usual type of masks, but most rely on a piece of t-shirts, wedged between his teeth.

The acidity of the water in the crater is high enough to dissolve the clothing and cause breathing problems. In 2008 the parameter of pH of the water in the crater was fixed at 0, 5, due to sulfuric acid.

The miners are paid depending on how much sulfur they delivered. Most miners carry out the delivery two times a day, earning from 70,000 to 80,000 (about £ 4, 50- £ 5, 20).

The sulfur is used in various fields: from fertilizers and cosmetics to gunpowder, but much of what is produced from the volcano, is sold to the local plant, where it is used to bleach sugar.

Indonesian miner shows scars on his shoulders from carrying heavy baskets of sulfur.

Shakhtar weighs cart sulfur, while another waits his turn.

Miners cover their faces against the backdrop of sulfur vapor on the volcano Kawah Ijen.

Miner sulfur watering pipe with water to cool them, a crater Ijen Kawah.

Shakhtar smashes pieces of sulfur, using a stone.

Indonesian miner carries a pair of bags of sulfur from Kawah Ijen crater.

Photo of a couple of baskets and masks sulfur, sulfur after weighing.

The shovel and crowbar lying on the ground at a place where there is production of sulfur on Kawah Ijen volcano.

The miners carried bags of sulfur from Kawah Ijen crater.

Shakhtar breaks sulfur pieces in Kawah Ijen crater.