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In the northeast forests of India, inhabited by thousands of miners, including children, India's Jharkhand state has rich natural resources, including mica, mica is the mica family mineral collective name, crystal is a pseudohexagonal sheet or plate, with glass luster and elasticity, has an important role in industry, but also appears in the beauty industry and other places.
The residents of Jharkhand are not rich, about 50% of the residents are hungry, in order to be able to obtain a source of income, people will go to the nearby mines to mine, the family has one more hand represents an extra income, Beth is a nearby resident, every week will go to the mine, carrying rations on their heads, a total of three days of rations for the villagers, the mine is about ten kilometers away from the village, Beth needs to walk over, in order to better mine minerals, the villagers live in the forest at the foot of the mine.
Beth's husband has died, leaving her father and five children to accompany, the family is engaged in the work of collecting waste, which is also the only source of income, each scrap is only a few grams, they will collect a little more, wait until a kilogram, can be sold to obtain income, the group has no choice but to collect mica.
The land in Jharkhand State is very poor, the local area is also the dry season, it is not suitable for farming, due to the low economy, the education level in rural areas is very low, most villagers will choose to mine, just to support their families, The Cow Depot is a senior miner who has lived in the forest for a long time, which is equivalent to one of his homes, Jakhand State does not receive government support, its education and food are not guaranteed, and mining work is also illegal.
Villagers gathered in a tent where women were responsible for making food and guarding some children. When it comes time to eat, many villagers will gather together, followed by the uphill screening of mica, the local mica has no quality assurance cattle warehouse will choose the address, some women choose mica by hand, after continuous excavation, the villagers' hands are covered with scars, mica is getting less and less.
Due to the use of the most traditional mining methods, the output of several people is not high, 1 kg of mica waste is currently only 10 cents, after a day of excavation, each person can get 1-2 US dollars, Beth is constantly digging, but also carefully selected, the sparkling particles are mica waste, poverty is endangering young people.
Many people in order to mine more mica, can only keep going deep into the underground mine, the depth of the mine is not stable, once it slides, it will produce life danger, but in the face of interests, dangers are thrown away by people, only non-stop mining, in exchange for a meager income.
Mica as an important mineral, for the beauty industry to bring extremely high value, part of the eyeshadow and lip gloss in short supply, predicted that the global mica market, after 2024, can reach about 700 million US dollars, 1.2 million tons of mica is from Jharkhand State, the main mining areas in Kodama and Gilidi, the local lack of schools and enterprises, can only be forced to mine mica.
Most of the villagers through the topsoil to screen mica waste, only a few villagers will choose to explore, abandoned caves and mines are harvesting life, caves have long been abandoned, every excavation is more like a gamble, the initial safety measures have long disappeared, old black is an explorer, only carry hammers and awls, embedded in the rock constantly beating, can get bright crystal mica, these mica still need to be screened, once old black let down his guard, the dark cave will engulf him, there is no lighting equipment in the mine, can only rely on their own judgment, According to Lao Hei, he began to screen mica from the age of seven, and when he became an adult, he entered the mine and accumulated a lot of terrain experience, and it was always prudent to harvest a large amount of mica, some rocks often loosened, mining mines often collapsed, and 10-20 people died every month.
The mines have long been preempted by the colonists, leaving abandoned mines and mines, still with a large amount of mica waste, life here is like a mine accident, there is no report, no one will worry about them.
In 1980, the local forest protection law came into force, the minerals of Jharkhand were classified as forests, the mining of mica and the transportation of mica, also became illegal activities, but in order to make a living, nearby Indians can only work here, in the first half of the 20th century, there were more than 20,000 miners, into 700 mines to work, the mines have long become potholes, the rest is a large amount of mica waste, so far, at least 70% of the mica mine has been mined, unfortunately this is the only income of the villagers.
Old Black is also a microcosm of the crowd, he needs this job, no one is responsible for them, walk through this mine, you can see many families, among which children are also picking mica, well-known beauty products, as long as they are responsible for the acquisition, and will not say thank you to this group of people, for the good needs, people can never meet, some beauty products will also improve mica, in order to eliminate its chemicals, mica needs to be ground into mica powder, and then add different pigments.
Mica is more in need of research, many people are not familiar with mica mines, some mica has also produced controversy, people may have different views on the side effects that mica may produce, mica as a mineral, essentially non-toxic, skin contact has no relationship, the human body can not absorb, will choose to excrete the body, if the processing of a large amount of absorption will also have a slight impact, it is to investigate the safety of mica, only to make Jakhand State transparent, the result is that the industry has child labor, India may exceed 10 million working children, Jakhand State is even worse, with a large number of children working in mica mines and picking mica waste.
Beth's eldest daughter worked at the age of 5, and now 14 years old, still picking mica waste in the mine, and will lead her younger siblings, most of the children are malnourished, the food is not enough to maintain life, the international is paying attention to Indian child labor, although consumers do not care, but the concern of the well-known industry is a moral issue, Indian child laborers work in mines, surrounded by uncertain dangers, but the local ignored.
Only in the spotlight, exposing this unfair treatment, can we make the local attention, illegal mining work is not the intention, more like a survival instinct, women and children only keep digging, in exchange for a meal, sometimes even a meal can not eat, but the excavation is always continuing, the products of various industries are also increasing, after the disclosure of mica, some well-known brands signed a contract, promising to change for them.
Mica diggers can not access regular banks, can only turn to the loan of non-business manufacturing, the annual interest rate is as high as 200 or more, many families fall into a vicious circle, either to repay the debt or debt labor, mined mica can only be sold to specific traders, traders are responsible for their debt conversion, relying on mica to repay debts, it is the connection between the rich and the poor, grassroots workers have no way to express dissatisfaction, only rely on the feedback of journalists.
And in the face of some forest protection bureau inspections, miners will pay compensation, which is also a way of bribery, but there is still a risk of closure, the mine in addition to the contractor, there are several operators responsible, will form a complete network to sell, more and more people digging, the forest at the foot of the mine also contains danger, the industry has created billions of dollars in value, from computers to beauty, but can not give miners wages, Jharkhand's illegal mica is still continuing, unhealthy mica waste is still selling, How does the safety certificate come about, the system has a complete industrial chain.
In the area of Jharkhand, there are legally certified merchants who have a license to process and sell mica, the mica mined by the miners is sold here, and then it is sorted and sold all over the world, the workers work in the workshop for up to 12 hours, responsible for sorting out the cleaning mica, the scarf on the neck is a layer of protection, the long-term inhalation of dust will cause chronic diseases, the hands of the workers have shiny, and after processing the mica to more than 80%, it will be sold to Japan, Germany and China. More than 50 products can be produced every day, which is 50 countries and markets.
Many well-known brands of mica can not be traced, because some mica need to be processed, diversified customer groups, resulting in the mica diggers behind no one knows, behind the gloss, there is always a humble profession, it is this group of people, lit up the color of the world.