Natural born gold diggers
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As gold prices have soared from $350 to $1,300 an ounce over the last five years, the diggers have come to the Central Chinese borderlands of Henan, Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces in hopes of striking it rich.
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Zhang Quanyou, 48, works overtime near the city of Yuncheng in Shanxi Province. He hasn't been home for four years. |
What they find instead near the Henan city of Lingbao, Yuncheng county of Shanxi Province, and Tongguan and Luonan counties of Shaanxi Province is a hard job down a deep mine working for a pit owner who collects 50 percent commission from their labors.
Every day, the miners' sparkling rocks are removed to the bottom of mountains and treated until the sepa-rated gold powder can be weighed by an electronic scale.
Working a 12-hour shift every two days, a miner typically earns about 100 yuan ($15). Zhang Quanyou (right) always volunteers for overtime as he must support two children studying at university.
"I haven't gone home for four years and I miss my family very much," he says.
