Hunting for Emeralds | Mine Hunters

Next morning, the teams start early on their first day's work at Player Verie.

“Oh look, here's all the Timbers!” First up, Fred and Zach do an inventory of equipment at the site.

“Hey, what's this? It's a blower! We can use this to ventilate the mine, assuming it works well.”

“I'm assuming it doesn't work. Why else would it be sat behind this?”

“Yeah, well let's keep looking, eh? See what else we can find.”

Gold Miner John and Aussie Miner Jimmy head straight to the face. Jimmy is the team's most experienced underground miner, having spent 10 years drilling and blasting the copper mines of Western Australia.

“I'm not a gemologist, you know. I don’t understand! I can lift heavy things and I can lift them all day long, you know? So just point me in the right direction and I'll have a go. Where? Where? This way? That way? Just all of it! All of it!”

Many mines in Colombia are mechanized, but at Player Verie, there's a lack of power. So the locals are currently limited to hand tools, literally just picking at the wall with a knife.

“You know, I mean, if we can get some mechanical power in here, we'd be able to just power through this! You know, to have any chance of finding an emerald inside. In 5 days, the team decides they must invest in machinery or risk going home empty-handed.”

“I work in an emerald mine, but I don't think I'll be able to say I produced anything at this rate. It's like beating a dead horse right now.”