Celebrity master chefs EPISODE 10 FULLHD 1080P 8 Feb 2025
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Short filmTranscript
00:00This pile of dirt came from one of the most valuable emerald mines in the world.
00:07Hundreds of people scavenged through waste by hand to uncover a few tiny stones.
00:15It's very common to have fractures.
00:20People have had their clavicles fractured, their ankles.
00:44Foreign investors say they find emeralds every hour.
00:49Some sell for a fortune.
00:52Retail a stone like this could go for about $500,000.
00:58So what happens when foreign investors take over a $150 million industry?
01:05And can local miners gain a piece of it back?
01:10Emeralds form when hydrothermal fluids collect and mix beryllium with chromium or vanadium.
01:18The elements crystallize in deposits and form the storied green gems.
01:25But Columbia has a secret ingredient.
01:29It's one of the few places on Earth where emeralds form in shale instead of igneous rock.
01:36Shale contains the ingredients for emeralds, but it also creates byproducts like sulfur and pyrite.
01:43The sulfur absorbs some of the iron that would normally go into an emerald.
01:48Less iron means a more saturated green color.
01:52And for emerald buyers, color is king.
01:56Diamonds have been out there for a long time.
01:58Color stone is now another different league of valuation of stones.
02:06$57,000, around $35,000 per carat.
02:10Buyers around the world covet these emeralds.
02:14But the profit is rarely seen by those who live around the mines.
02:20This is Muso.
02:22Miners have fought over the town's emeralds for centuries.
02:27Some line up as early as 3am for what's known as the Volador.
02:33I imagine having it in my hand.
02:35Before I have it, I've already planned what I'm going to do with it.
02:41Nidian is a guaquero, or guaquera in her case.
02:45She's an informal miner, sort of like a prospector during the California gold rush.
02:52I have a lot of faith in the emerald.
02:55But it's a mentality, it's luck, it's energy.
02:59We don't know what it is, but this is the emerald.
03:07But to have a shot at finding something, you need to be ready to run.
03:30Nidian claims her spot and digs for treasure the size of a pebble.
03:41This debris comes from the nearby Puerto Arturo mine, which is backed by US investors.
03:59I gave her a silver coin, and she gave me two.
04:02Of course, I was angry.
04:06If there's a spark, and you're looking the other way,
04:10grab it by the mouth or the boots, and stay there.
04:24When there's money or emeralds involved,
04:27there are no friends, not even family.
04:44The oldest guaqueros remember when mine runoff flowed through this river,
04:48and fines were more common.
04:52But environmental regulations and modernised excavation put a stop to that.
05:02Nidian spent four hours digging and sifting.
05:22These small stones are probably worth less than $25 each.
05:29Voladoras happens sporadically, so her next opportunity won't be for another few weeks.
05:52Did you want to record that fall?
05:54They were recording me, and I fell.
05:56I mean, I did fall.
05:59No, but they didn't record the fall, thank goodness.
06:02Oh, no!
06:03More than three times.
06:05I would have turned around.
06:13How tragic it would be for you to go, and for carrying a bag on your shoulder,
06:16you get $10, $20, $30, $50 million.
06:21That's not tragic.
06:27It's tragic to work in a city for eight hours a day.
06:31Sometimes I've even worked 12 hours for a salary.
06:37That's sad.
06:40That's tragic.
06:44But the more formal and modern the mines become,
06:47the less that's left for the guaqueros.
06:50The fight to control Colombia's emeralds has raged for generations.
06:57In the mid-20th century, the Colombian government tried to nationalize the mines,
07:02but the remote area proved impossible to control.
07:06So in the 1970s, the government leased titles to local leaders called dons,
07:12hoping that collecting royalties would be easier than direct management.
07:18This is in the middle of the Colombian mountains.
07:20You feel that you are in a completely different country, and it's very isolated.
07:25That made elites, local elites, regional elites,
07:28able to basically hold power that was not attached to a creation of a central state.
07:34The dons were locals, some even former guaqueros.
07:38They won loyalty by letting their miners pocket and sell small emeralds,
07:43as long as they didn't get caught taking too much.
07:46These were people who accumulate a lot of power,
07:49and power that could become violent in many ways.
07:52But at the same time, they will become the ones who will provide jobs
07:57and economic benefits to the population.
08:01This power made the dons rich, but it cost thousands of lives.
08:08Beginning in 1965, countless messy fights erupted between dons,
08:13illegal miners, paramilitaries, and drug traffickers
08:17in a series of conflicts known as the Green Wars.
08:21Fighting dragged on until a ceasefire in 1990.
08:28It was basically an agreement of not killing each other.
08:31For the most part, when I went in the early 2000s,
08:34people were saying, no, the peace is holding here.
08:37By the 2010s, sustained peace had attracted the eye of international investors,
08:43and control of the mines shifted from the dons to foreign companies with deep pockets.
08:51But even this didn't come without conflict.
08:54In the past decade, miners in Mosul have repeatedly clashed
08:58with an American-backed company over access to emeralds.
09:02And in late 2024, tensions spiked again.
09:06In November, the Boladora was suspended,
09:09and guajeros protested by blocking roads
09:15and forcing their way onto mine property.
09:19In January, the governor of the department of Boyacá
09:23met with mine owners and local leaders to discuss improving conditions for the guajeros,
09:28like formalising the Boladora and prioritising local labour and goods.
09:39But at the time of publishing, there hasn't been a Boladora for three months.
09:49However, locals say outside investment has brought benefits as well.
09:55Just a few kilometres away from Mosul is the Crow Flies,
09:58but nearly a day's journey by bumpy roads lies one of the biggest emerald mines in Colombia.
10:08This is the Cosques Mine.
10:11Fura Gems, a company based in Dubai, acquired a majority stake in 2017.
10:18The company poured $150 million into modernising and expanding the vast tunnels.
10:28Today, Fura exports half a million carats annually.
10:33Just 10 years ago, this mine looked very different.
10:38Tunnels were narrow, and miners pushed around small quantities of ore by hand.
10:43When we came, it was hardly like a mine of one by one metre.
10:48And right now, we are standing here by four by four.
10:51Even your car can pass through this mine.
10:56This is going to be the largest mine of emerald in the world.
11:03But Fura's investment means there's less and less available for locals.
11:08Like these women, known as artisanal tunnel miners.
11:31They do things the old way.
11:33Smaller tunnels, limited equipment,
11:36and more dangerous conditions.
11:40Many artisanal miners have applied for an official mining title to legitimise their claim.
11:46A process the National Mining Agency says it's made easier to access.
12:07But the peace that enabled Fura to thrive hasn't helped small-scale miners financially.
12:14Yaneth might go all year without making any profit.
12:27When you see the value or the price that a very good emerald can have in the market,
12:32it's not something that most of these towns will see as their income in a lifetime.
12:45But for the 500 workers Fura employs, the recent foreign investment has been life-changing.
12:57Some, like Carmenza, were happy to give up artisanal tunnel mining.
13:03It was a very exhausting job.
13:05We didn't have good ventilation, good sustainability.
13:10Every day we were afraid that something would happen to us.
13:16One day I came in, I was picking up the earth, and I fell.
13:20I was saved because where the stone falls on me, I started asking for help.
13:25It's very risky, it's very dangerous.
13:28I say thank God because I'm telling the story here with you.
13:45The hunt for green starts with a hunt for white, calcite.
13:53Even valuable emeralds are relatively small.
13:56So calcite veins, in which the gems often form, are a signal to miners to look closely.
14:19If the area is promising, miners clear away the rock and add supporting material.
14:26Then it's time to get up close.
14:36This is the most exhausting part of the job.
14:43But today, Carmenza's work is rewarded.
14:49And just like the guajeros, miners can't beat a trusty metal bowl for catching loose gems.
14:57But one big difference compared to Nirián is that anything Carmenza finds, she promptly puts into a lockbox.
15:05Supervisors even check her mask and boots for smuggled gems.
15:10Workers at FURA are paid with a salary, not emeralds.
15:16Carmenza says it's still exciting to find one, even though it's not easy.
15:22Carmenza says it's still exciting to find one, even though she can't take it home.
15:41Back in 2018, the washing process looked similar to what the guajeros do by hand.
15:47Now, it's on a whole other level.
15:52Optical sorters equipped with cameras and ultraviolet lights detect and redirect emeralds.
16:04But meticulous washing means there's little left over for guajeros like Nirián.
16:11In fact, FURA doesn't provide debris for the boladora.
16:15It says it uses leftover shale for road maintenance and infrastructure around the mine.
16:46I spend more time here than at home.
16:51Here, it's more like a family to me.
16:54I'm a housewife. I have two kids.
16:57I'm the one who takes care of their work.
17:02I help them with their food.
17:07I'm very happy to be working here.
17:16It's a steady job in a place without many other options.
17:21But most of the money generated from emerald mining doesn't stay in the communities around Cosques or Muzo.
17:29Most of the profit, of course, is being made by the owners of the mines.
17:34But it's also being made internationally for those who trade the emeralds.
17:38And those profits never touch the regions where the emeralds are produced.
17:42Each year, Colombia exports about $130 to $150 million worth of emeralds.
17:51One of the top buyers is the U.S.
17:55Demands for emeralds is increasing.
17:58And people are buying from all corners of the world.
18:00People think, oh, you own the mine, it's easy.
18:03It's tons of headaches.
18:05Michael invested in a mine in Colombia to source the quality of gems he's after.
18:09Of course, the bigger, the better.
18:12But we look in terms of the quality.
18:14What's the best of the quality to have?
18:16A lighter emerald is less valuable than a darker emerald.
18:20Also, too dark is also not correct.
18:22The average price per carat is anywhere from $5,000 to $35,000, $40,000.
18:28Michael sells emeralds wholesale to jewelers like Tiffany.
18:33And he says emeralds he's sold have shown up on the red carpet and at royal weddings.
18:39Without Muzo entering in 2009, without Fura coming in 2017, I wouldn't think to be involved in mining.
18:49For Michael, the peace and modernization brought by foreign investors has been a welcome change.
18:57The American company coming in to buy the mine, it cleaned up the area.
19:04Peace, not fighting, is the best thing.
19:07Me as a businessman is about buying the beautiful gems Colombia produces and bringing it to the world.
19:13That's the passion I have. There's an excitement and a passion to this greenstone for me and my family.
19:19Fura shares this excitement.
19:21The company says it plans to invest over $100 million more in Colombia.
19:26And it extended its mining license to 2050.
19:32While the industry is modernized, in many ways it hasn't changed.
19:38The cycle of exploitation dates back 500 years.
19:43In the 16th century, Spanish conquistadors forced indigenous people and enslaved Africans to work the mines.
19:51The Spanish coveted valuable deposits, and lavish emeralds made their way to crowns and jewelry around the world.
20:01Since then, the mines have changed hands countless times.
20:05There has been peace and times of intense fighting.
20:09But the real money has always been made by those at the top.
20:14For the most part, those at the top, those who are the owners of the mines, or the traders in the international markets, or the users, don't care about those disposable populations.
20:26They can always change. They are not getting rich.
20:29But there will always be people in need of engaging in these economies to be able to live if they have no other economic options.
21:00The last good harvest was in December, of $15 million.
21:07Since then, we haven't gotten anything good.
21:17That's why you will always see that in my house there are many herbs, as well as the stones, the gems.
21:27Each one has its own property.
21:32The emerald is generally a stone of power.
21:37It is a stone that gives temperament, strength, and health.
21:47The emerald, because it is related to the color green, is the color of health, abundance, and prosperity.
21:58I feel proud to say that I am from Muso.
22:03For what we really are, that we are people from Guaquera, and the term Guaquero is a pride for us.
22:17I want people to come and know what we really are, the workers that we are.
22:27For more information, visit www.fema.gov