Several miles away from Mount Kilimanjaro, about 2,000 children, particularly males, work below people’s feet, sometimes over 100 m underneath the ground. The miners search for one rock: tanzanite, which is found only in Merelani, Tanzania, Africa. They excavate the brown, rare stone then heat it until the gemstone becomes a violet-blue color. Nomadic Masai tribes reportedly found the stone in 1967. Today, however, tanzanite causes controversy over moral, environmental, and economical issues, such as poor working conditions, air pollution, and regulation policies.
Some miners spend days underground, eating and sleeping in the mines. Maski Lekindanyu, a 15-year-old boy, says, “Every time I go down into the mine, I put my life in the hands of the Lord.” Underground, the air and fumes suffocate the miners. They only have minutes to climb up a ladder before explosives blow. Miners face more problems than suffocating though. Most of the small, local mining companies supply their workers with inadequate working appliances, poor lighting and ventilation, and few safety tools. In addition, the weather brings trouble with flash floods. In 1998, the floods killed 71 people in one block, or section, alone.
Moreover, tanzanite’s popularity did not provide the get-rich-quick scheme that some Tanzanian miners hoped for. Workers go for days or even years without finding a single piece of Tanzanite. Geologists estimate that the supply of Tanzanite will last for up to 15 years; and with the clock ticking, many of the industry’s workers look to an uncertain future.
In addition, the United States purchases about 70% of the tanzanite, which can be found in popular stores, such as Tiffany and Co. and Zales. On the other hand though, Caribbean souvenir shops also sell an abundance of tanzanite but for lower costs. Thus, the price of the gem fluctuates wildly because exporters undervalue shipments—a package worth $100,000 could sell for $5,000. As one can see, the diminished payments result to lower wages for miners. Furthermore, plot owners claim eighty percent of the tanzanite chippings leaving the rest to their employees.
As a result, the Tanzanian government needs to regulate the tanzanite mining industry to make sure that the large and small businesses pay their workers fair wages and provide adequate equipment and safety tools, as well as making sure that the companies do not exploit children. By providing secure laws, check ups, funding, and alternative jobs, the government can decrease the number of accidents and deaths and supply its citizens with safer alternatives.
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