Gửi: Wed May 27, 2009 11:35 am Tiêu đề: Fire and brimstone
Fire and brimstone Sulphur mining at the Ijen volcano in East Java, Indonesia.
Miners carry baskets of sulphur up from the crater of the Ijen volcano complex outside Banyuwangi, East Java, Indonesia. Picture: GETTY
The Ijen volcano rises to 2,386m with a crater of over 175 metres deep and nearly one kilometre wide, making it one of the world's largest craters. Picture: GETTY
Shadowed by East Java's Gunung Merapi volcano, the moonscape-like land has no vegetation. Picture: GETTY
At the bottom of the crater is a turqoise-coloured acid lake. Picture: GETTY
The lake is the site of a labor-intensive sulphur mining operation. Picture: GETTY
Escaping volcanic gases are channeled through a network of ceramic pipes, resulting in condensation of molten sulphur. Picture: GETTY
The sulphur, which is deep red in colour when molten, pours slowly from the ends of these pipes and pools on the ground, turning bright yellow as it cools. Picture: GETTY
Up to about 200 miners a day make a living here using metal rods to break off pieces of hardening yellow sulphur spilling out of pipes attached to the fumaroles. Picture: GETTY
They load the heavy rocks of sulphur into baskets and carry them up to the rim of the crater. Picture: GETTY
The miners then carry the baskets, weighing up to 80kg, a further three kilometres to a collection point. Picture: GETTY
The miners are paid according to how much sulphur they can deliver. Picture: GETTY
The average price for the sulphur is about 3p per kilogram, and a worker - depending on his strength and stamina - carries on average three baskets a day, earning him around seven pounds. Picture: GETTY
The miners have no protective clothing. Picture: GETTY
The acidity of the water in the crater is high enough to dissolve clothing and cause breathing problems. Picture: GETTY
The noxious odour is somewhere between ammonia and rotten eggs.. Picture: GETTY
A few have basic-looking masks, but most rely on little more than a piece of T-shirt gripped in their teeth. Picture: GETTY
Gatot Subroto of PT Candu Ngrimbi, the firm operating the mine, said the miners had previously turned down masks it had offered complaining they restricted their breathing. Picture: GETTY
Sulphur has a range of uses from fertiliser to cosmetics to gun powder, but a mine official said it was currently being supplied to a local factory where it is used to bleach sugar. Picture: GETTY
Straddling the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where continental plates collide, Indonesia is dotted with hundreds of volcanos and sees intense seismic activity. Picture: GETTY
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