FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Jason]

Jesse has the best point which many a world traveler who deal in gems an minerals echo, like Bowersox and Pardieu..many people survive on gems and minerals and mining them..it's easy for us in the West in our armchairs and slippers to say this or that about the environment and mining but many a family eats and has a roof over there head thanks to hard work they do for the few stones or minerals they take from the ground

[Ibrahim Jameel]

I have traveled to several countries to buy minerals, and have to agree with the previous couple posts. Selling minerals really does help the locals. Whether they are miners working for a corporation and illicitly recovering specimens to supplement their income (such as at Huanzala or Uchuchacua), or self employed individuals working under a cooperative-type system (Bolivia and most Pakistani localities), the extra income can be very beneficial (and quite substantial).

The miners at Uchucchacua are currently striking to have their wages increased-- there is a reason why they sell rhodochrosite on the side. Sure, removing these minerals from the mine technically is unethical, but perhaps the same could be said of their wages. I am not taking a side, but the relative losses to Buenaventura (the mine owner) from a few pounds of unrefined ore are insignificant compared to the benefits to the miners.

Also, I've been to northern Pakistan a few times, and I have to disagree with the statement that minerals have prevented radicalization. As much as minerals have helped the region, I think the reasons have more to do with demographics and geography. Northern Pakistan is primarily Shiite, ethnically Balti/"other", and the tribal structures are very different. The societal and religious structures afforded by Shiism, as well as the different tribal structure make that area much less susceptible to radicalization.

The areas that have seen the most radicalization are Sunni, and ethnically Pashtun/ Punjabi. These places are also much less secluded than the villages in the mountainous north, and have been exposed to years of chaos because of the wars in Afghanistan (which spill over into Pakistan thanks to a porous border).

In short, as much as minerals help, saying that they have prevented radicalization is probably giving them too much credit...