Colombia produces the world’s most expensive emeralds. The highest-quality stones can be worth tens of thousands of dollars per carat. Miners have fought over these treasures for centuries, but in the past decade, foreign investors have modernized and consolidated the industry. The newcomers have brought safety and new jobs to the area, but there’s little left over for the communities around the mines. So what happens when foreign investors take over a $150 million industry? And can local miners gain a piece of it back?
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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.
00:21People have had fractured clavicles and ankles.
00:44Foreign investors say they find emeralds every hour.
00:48Some sell for a fortune.
00:51Retail a stone like this could go for about $500,000.
00:57So what happens when foreign investors take over a $150 million industry?
01:04And can local miners gain a piece of it back?
01:09Emeralds 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.
01:35Shale contains the ingredients for emeralds, but it also creates byproducts like sulfur and pyrite.
01:42The sulfur absorbs some of the iron that would normally go into an emerald.
01:47Less iron means a more saturated green color.
01:51And for emerald buyers, color is king.
01:55Diamonds 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.
02:11Buyers around the world covet these emeralds.
02:14But the profit is rarely seen by those who live around the mines.
02:20This is Musso.
02:23Miners 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.
02:44She's an informal miner, sort of like a prospector during the California gold rush.
02:52I have a lot of faith in the emerald.
02:54But it's my mentality, it's luck, it's energy.
02:58We don't know what it is.
03:00But this is the emerald.
03:05But to have a shot at finding something, you need to be ready to run.
03:31Nidian claims her spot and digs for treasure the size of a pebble.
03:42This debris comes from the nearby Puerto Arturo mine, which is backed by US investors.
04:00He gave me a silver coin, and I got 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, there are no friends.
04:30These are my 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.
05:01Nidian spent four hours digging and sifting.
05:24These small stones are probably worth less than $25 each.
05:30Bola Duras happens sporadically, so her next opportunity won't be for another few weeks.
06:00They didn't film the fall, thank goodness.
06:13How tragic is it to go there and get $10,000, $20,000, $30,000, $50,000 for digging a hole in your shoulder?
06:21That's not tragic.
06:23But the more formal and modern the mines become, the less that's left for the guaqueros.
06:29And the fight to control Colombia's emeralds is only getting worse.
06:36I've been working in a city for eight hours a day,
06:39and sometimes I've even worked 12 hours a day for a salary.
06:44That's sad.
06:46That's tragic.
06:49And the fight to control Colombia's emeralds has raged for generations.
06:57In the mid-20th century, the Colombian government tried to nationalise 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
07:56and economic benefits to the population.
08:01This power made the dons rich, but it cost thousands of lives.
08:07Beginning in 1965, countless messy fights erupted between dons,
08:12illegal miners, paramilitaries, and drug traffickers
08:16in a series of conflicts known as the Green Wars.
08:21Fighting dragged on until a ceasefire in 1990.
08:27It was basically an agreement of not killing each other.
08:30For the most part, when I went in the early 2000s,
08:33many people were saying, oh, the peace is holding here.
08:36By the 2010s, sustained peace had attracted the eye of international investors,
08:42and control of the mines shifted from the dons to foreign companies with deep pockets.
08:50But even this didn't come without conflict.
08:53In the past decade, miners in Mosul have repeatedly clashed
08:57with an American-backed company over access to emeralds.
09:01And in late 2024, tensions spiked again.
09:05In November, the Boladora was suspended,
09:08and guajeros protested by blocking roads
09:15and forcing their way onto mine property.
09:19In January, the governor of the department of Boyacá met with mine owners and local leaders
09:25to discuss improving conditions for the guajeros,
09:28like formalizing the Boladora and prioritizing local labor and goods.
09:36But at the time of publishing, there hasn't been a Boladora for three months.
09:46However, locals say outside investment has brought benefits as well.
09:52Just a few kilometers away from Mosul is the Crow Flies,
09:56but nearly a day's journey by bumpy roads lies one of the biggest emerald mines in Colombia.
10:06This 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 modernizing and expanding the vast tunnels.
10:28Today, Fura exports half a million carats annually.
10:32Just ten years ago, this mine looked very different.
10:37Tunnels were narrow, and miners pushed around small quantities of ore by hand.
10:45When we came, it was hardly like a mine of one by one meter.
10:50And right now, we are standing here by four by four.
10:54Even your car can pass through this mine.
10:58This is going to be the largest mine of emerald in the world.
11:06But Fura's investment means there's less and less available for locals.
11:12Like these women, known as artisanal tunnel miners.
11:28They do things the old way.
11:31Smaller tunnels, limited equipment, and more dangerous conditions.
11:39Many artisanal miners have applied for an official mining title to legitimize their claim.
11:45A process the National Mining Agency says it's made easier to access.
11:57It gives us the value we need for our home.
12:00And for me personally, it's a business that makes my day.
12:08But 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.
13:27The hunt for green starts with a hunt for white, calcite.
13:35Even valuable emeralds are relatively small.
13:39But they're worth the risk.
13:42And that's why Fura is so important.
13:45It's the only place in the world where emeralds can be found.
13:49It's the only place in the world where emeralds can be found.
13:53Even valuable emeralds are relatively small.
13:57So calcite veins, in which the gems often form, are a signal to miners to look closely.
14:04It's luck.
14:08All emeralds are valuable, but not all of them are of the same quality.
14:12Big, big, big, no.
14:16Big, big, big, big, no.
14:20If the area is promising, miners clear away the rock and add supporting material.
14:26Then it's time to get up close.
14:34This is the most exhausting part of the job.
14:41But today, Carmenza's work is rewarded.
14:47And just like the guajeros, miners can't beat a trusty metal bowl for catching loose gems.
15:04But one big difference compared to Nidian is that anything Carmenza finds, she promptly puts into a lockbox.
15:12Supervisors even check her mask and boots for smuggled gems.
15:17Workers at Fura are paid with a salary, not emeralds.
15:22Carmenza says it's still exciting to find one, even though she can't take it home.
15:34Back in 2018, the washing process looked similar to what the guajeros do by hand.
15:41Now, it's on a whole other level.
15:49Optical sorters, equipped with cameras and ultraviolet lights, detect and redirect emeralds.
15:56But meticulous washing means there's little left over for guajeros like Nidian.
16:03In fact, Fura doesn't provide debris for the boladora.
16:08It says it uses leftover shale for road maintenance and infrastructure around the mine.
16:13In fact, Fura doesn't provide debris for the boladora.
16:17It says it uses leftover shale for road maintenance and infrastructure around the mine.
16:43It's more than just one thing.
16:47I spend more time here than at home.
16:51Here, it's more like a family for me.
16:54I'm a housewife. I have two kids, so I'm the one who's responsible for their work.
17:02I take care of their food. I help them with their food every month.
17:07So, I'm very happy to be working here.
17:14It's a steady job in a place without many other options.
17:19But most of the money generated from emerald mining doesn't stay in the communities around Cosques or Muzo.
17:27Most of the profit, of course, is being made by the owners of the mines,
17:31but it's also being made internationally for those who trade the emeralds.
17:35And those profits never touch the regions where the emeralds are produced.
17:39Each year, Colombia exports about $130 to $150 million worth of emeralds.
17:48One of the top buyers is the U.S.
17:51Demand for emeralds is increasing, and people are buying from all corners of the world.
17:55People think, oh, you own the mine, it's easy. It's tons of headaches.
18:00Michael invested in a mine in Colombia to source the quality of gems he's after.
18:04Of course, the bigger, the better, but we look in terms of the quality.
18:07What's the best of the quality to have?
18:10A lighter emerald is less valuable than a darker emerald.
18:13Also, too dark is also not correct.
18:16The average price per carat is anywhere from $5,000 to $35,000, $40,000.
18:23Michael sells emeralds wholesale to jewelers like Tiffany,
18:26and he says emeralds are a great source of income.
18:29Michael 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,
18:45I wouldn't think to be involved in mining.
18:49For Michael, the peace and modernization brought by foreign investors has been a welcome change.
18:55The American company coming in to buy the mine, it cleaned up the area.
19:02Peace, not fighting, is the best thing.
19:05Peace, not fighting, is the best thing.
19:07Me as a businessman, it's about buying the beautiful gems Colombia produces
19:09Me as a businessman, it's about buying the beautiful gems Colombia produces
19:11and bringing it to the world. That's the passion I have.
19:13There's an excitement and a passion to this greenstone for me and my family.
19:18Fura 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
19:47and enslaved Africans to work the mines.
19:51The Spanish coveted valuable deposits,
19:53and lavish emeralds made their way to crowns and jewelry around the world.
20:00Since then, the mines have changed hands countless times.
20:05There has been peace and times of intense fighting,
20:08but the real money has always been made by those at the top.
20:12For the most part, those at the top, those who are the owners of the mines,
20:17or the traders in the international markets, or the users,
20:21don't care about those disposable populations.
20:24They can always change, they are not getting rich,
20:27but there will always be people in need of engaging in these economies
20:31to be able to live if they have no other economic options.
20:43It's quite difficult to get them.
20:48Difficult to get.
20:50Most people here don't even have a fridge.
20:55For me, the greatest blessing is to know how to value life.
21:00So here I learned to value the most minimal.
21:04The last good harvest was in December, of $15 million.
21:09Since then, we haven't gotten anything good.
21:19That's why you will always see that in my house there are a lot of herbs,
21:24as well as the stones, the limestone.
21:30Like the stones, the gems, each one has a property.
21:39So the emerald, in general, is a stone of power.
21:44It is a stone that gives temperament, that gives strength,
21:49that gives health.
21:54The emerald, because it is related to the color green,
21:57is the color of health, of abundance, of prosperity.
22:05I mean, I feel proud to say that I am from Muso,
22:09because of what we really are,
22:11that we are huaqueras, and the term huaquero for us is a pride.
22:23I want people to come and know what we really are,
22:26the workers that we are.