Narrator: This floating mine is home to one of the most
dangerous jobs in Indonesia. Every day, Joko Tingkir risks his life to harvest a precious source
from below the ocean floor: tin. Narrator: He breathes
through this narrow tube powered by a small diesel engine. Narrator: This is the
best-paying job in his village. Indonesia is the world's
biggest exporter of tin, but most of it has been
mined on land here, on the islands of Bangka and Belitung. But the tin deposits on
land are almost gone. And the process of excavating it has left behind these huge, toxic lakes filled with poisonous minerals and acids. Meanwhile, mining operations
have moved offshore, and unlicensed miners
scavenge the seafloor for whatever gets left behind. We followed Joko to see how he dives 65 feet underwater to collect tin. And to find out what makes this such a risky business. Joko was born and raised in Bangka. Narrator: About 40% of islanders
here now work in the mining industry. And Joko knows it's the
best way to feed his family. The pontoons form what looks
like a small floating village. But each float has its own mobile crew. Today, the water is choppy, and there are no life vests on board. All he has are these goggles
and a basic snorkeling cap. Even just reaching the
seabed is a challenge. Joko stays here for up
to four hours a dive. His oxygen supply comes
from an air compressor aboard the pontoon. Sometimes it can overheat
and emit toxic gases into his air supply. Narrator: Joko pulls this blue pipe
along with him on the seafloor. First he checks the sand for tin, but he has to be careful. Narrator: Tin weighs more than sand, so Joko says he can tell
there's tin mixed in based on how heavy this handful feels. He sends a sample up to the
pontoon through this blue tube so his crew can check for it, too. When his colleagues see it, they send a signal down to Joko
by bending his oxygen tube, momentarily cutting off his air supply. Once he knows he's found tin, his job is to keep holding the vacuum pipe firmly in that spot. Above, the filtration begins. His crew places these mats
on the floor of the raft to separate the tin from the sand. Since tin is heavier, it
falls through these pores. The sand gets dumped back into the ocean off the back of the pontoon. Next, workers peel the mats off and bring them to these basins, where they wash out the tin
that's trapped inside the pores. Then, they drain the water and scoop the ore into bowls. The whole process is loud, and it can be hard to keep tabs on Joko, who's still submerged
about 60 feet beneath them. Meanwhile, the sucking
action from the pipe is creating a crater in the sea floor. The deeper the hole, the
higher the walls of sand. And sometimes they crumble. Joko says they've even buried his friend. Narrator: Joko worries for his life, too. At the bottom of the sea, the pressure is more than two times what it is on the ground, and surfacing too fast has
damaged Joko's hearing. Since safety is so expensive,
sometimes accidents happen. Between 2017 and 2020, an Indonesian NGO recorded 40 deaths linked to tin mining in Indonesia. But many go unreported. That's because these
miners are unlicensed, which means what they're
doing here is illegal. Local police go after them, but miners say they are
mostly looking for bribes. Ninety percent of the
country's tin-mining territory is controlled by PT Timah,
a state-owned company. The government also grants licenses to small independent crews
who work on pontoons. Getting those permits, though, means having a modern vacuum system that attaches to the seabed on its own, and doesn't require miners like Joko to dive to the bottom of the sea. But pontoons like that cost six times more than what Joko works on. Tin mining in Bangka
began in the 17th century. Hundreds of years of digging has created moonlike craters on this once tropical landscape. The exposed rocks contain sulfides that react with air and water and leak acids into Bangka's waterways. Massive toxic leaks like
these are everywhere. Now, 16,000 tons of tin are left on land. But PT Timah estimates
that about 265,000 tons are still in the ocean, so miners have moved to the sea. Narrator: But offshore mining
is killing fish in these waters. A local NGO found that mining at sea has damaged about 13,000 acres
of reef around the island. Locals say that eight years ago, they could fish within a
4-mile radius of the island. Now they have to travel at least 17 miles to catch enough fish to make a living. PT Timah did not respond to
our requests for comment. The four men work on the
pontoon for 11 hours, taking just a short break for lunch. At the end of the day, they
divide the tin among themselves. Joko takes the most, because
his job is the riskiest. But he still makes only $13 a day. That's why he can't
afford the protective gear most deep-sea divers use, like a pressurized helmet
that costs around $2,000. He sells his tin on the black market to middlemen like Nasrin ... Narrator: ... who buys it for
10% below the standard rate. Narrator: So Nasrin has to refine the tin. A worker washes it again to
get rid of any residual sand. Now, this is the tin
Nasrin can actually sell. Workers then heat these metal
platforms over an open fire. Then they pour the tin onto
this blazing hot surface to evaporate any residual water. When workers inhale these fumes, particles of tin can enter their lungs and, over time, affect their breathing. Once the tin is dried, workers gather it up into sacks. And then it's sold to smelters, who extract the metal from its ore. Tin is used in everything
— phones, food cans, cosmetics, paints, and even fuel. But recently, Joko has been
struggling to get a good price, because government regulations
have made it harder to find buyers for his product,
which is considered illegal. Narrator: Today, Joko says
he makes barely enough to feed his wife and four children. Narrator: But he says they're enough
to make him conquer any fear, and his reason to get up the
next day to do it all again.
