The Spanish arrived in El Chocó, in the Colombian Pacific, successfully searching gold. African slaves they brought to work the mines were the ancestors of today’s Afro-Colombian population there.

Commercial mining ended in the 60s, but recently high prices for gold and limited proven supply have provoked a boom in mining by excavating pits with large backhoes. Tons of rocks and silt are dumped into the streams and rivers. Mercury pollutes air, water and soil. And the gold removed is measured only in pounds.

Once major operations are over, the pits are turned over to local people, who become full-time artisanal miners. Other traditional economic activities—farming, fishing, hunting, etc.—are abandoned, and many people devote themselves to the back-breaking and dangerous work.

And the rewards are few. The gold they get is measured in castellanos (.01 pound) and tomines (1/8 of a castellano). Dreams of a more comfortable and secure life are generally frustrated. I asked a gold buyer if mining would lift the people from poverty, “Never in their lives—though we gold traders are making money!”