Narrator: Hundreds of miners work inside an active volcano here in Indonesia, battling toxic fumes all day long. They're mining sulfur, which locals call "devil's gold." Working conditions here are so dangerous, many miners don't live past 50 years old. Narrator: Miners like Mistar carry up to 200 pounds of sulfur on their backs up and down these steep cliffs. And Mistar has been doing it for 30 years. Narrator: The sulfur is used in everything from matches and rubber
to cosmetic products. It's even what makes our sugar white. Narrator: But most of the world's sulfur comes from oil and gas refining, making volcanic mines like
this relatively obsolete. Yet these miners are still working, earning about $12 to $17 a day. Because in this remote part of Indonesia, it's one of the better paying jobs. Narrator: So why is this form of
sulfur mining still happening, and what makes this such a risky business? Narrator: This is as far as
Mistar can go on his bike. There are no roads to the crater, so he has to walk the rest of the way. It's a 2-mile hike up to
the ridge of Ijen volcano. He takes only his basket and a crowbar down into the 1,000-foot-deep crater. Narrator: Here, he faces the
volcano's extreme environment. The air can reach over
100 degrees Fahrenheit. And he works near one of the world's most toxic volcano lakes. Narrator: And there's the smoke. Narrator: He battles two
types of sulfur smoke. The first comes from
deep inside the volcano and is channeled through these pipes. Narrator: While mining
company PT Candi Ngrimbi owns a license to run the mine, the miners are freelance contractors, so they have to pay for their own gear. And many can't afford gas masks. Instead, they use handkerchiefs or towels dipped in water to keep the sulfur powder from sticking. The second type of smoke
is even more dangerous. It comes from the volcanic
gases below the acidic lake, and it can be deadly. So if miners see big clouds of thin, white smoke coming from the lake, they have to evacuate. Narrator: That's why Mistar
needs to get here so early. The winds pick up through the day, pulling more white smoke
towards the miners. Both types of smoke have
lasting health effects. Narrator: But the smoke
from inside the volcano is crucial for sulfur production. This is how it works. When the superhot smoke
hits the cooler air outside, it condenses liquid
and drips off the pipe. Narrator: As it solidifies and cools, the sulfur will turn yellow, and miners can begin chipping off blocks. It's the sulfur's two colors that give it the name devil's gold. Miners use their bare
hands to move these blocks. Although touching solid sulfur frequently can cause rashes and blisters, Mistar says that as long
as it's cool and yellow, the sulfur is fine to touch. Narrator: Pre-pandemic, the miners
could extract up to 25 tons daily, but since 2020, they've been
working in two separate shifts to socially distance. That's lowered the miners' capacity to only 10 tons of sulfur a day. Once he fills his baskets, Mistar hoists them up on
his shoulder to hike back. But that sulfur is not a light load. Narrator: That's about 154 pounds. Mistar himself weighs just 132. Narrator: Some of the younger miners can carry up to 200 pounds in one load. Narrator: They have to haul it
up the steep walls of the crater. Narrator: Some do the
treacherous hike in flip-flops. Narrator: Once he reaches
the rim of the crater, Mistar can transfer the
sulfur to his trolley and begin the 2 miles back. And he'll do this trip
a second time today. Narrator: PT Candi Ngrimbi,
the mining company, also owns this weighing station and the factory where the sulfur ends up. At the factory, workers boil the sulfur and run it through a series of filters. They have to remove any contaminants like sand or dirt. Then they pour it out onto
the factory floor to cool. The sulfur is loaded into sacks and sent to sugar factories nearby. It's processed into sulfuric acid, the world's most commonly used chemical. It's used in everything from matches, fireworks, and gunpowder to detergent, paper, and batteries. It's what makes sugar white. And it's an essential ingredient in rubber products and even winemaking. But 98% of the world's sulfur comes from oil and gas refining. It's a byproduct of refining, and oil companies are required by law to process it safely. What's created is a lot of pure sulfur -- a purity that's necessary for making products like fertilizer. Today, the sulfur
industry from oil and gas is worth almost $13 billion and is expected to keep growing. And it's left natural mines
and volcanoes unnecessary, especially since mined
sulfur isn't as pure. It can be acidic or contain sand. Yet Ijen is one of the only
places left in the world where people still mine sulfur this way. So why do they do it, despite the danger? For the mining company,
it's easier and cheaper to get sulfur from Ijen. For the sulfur miners,
the pay is a lot more than other jobs on the
island, such as farming. Narrator: The mining company pays
on the weight of their loads. They get about 9 cents per kilo. With two loads, Mistar can make $17 a day. The mining company did not respond to our request for comment on why the miners are paid so little for what's considered one of the most dangerous
jobs in the world. Another possible reason
this mine is still open? Tourism. At night, visitors flock here to see the blue flame from the sulfur gas. During the day, tourists hike up to take in the vistas. Protected with their gas masks, they watch miners work
without masks of their own. Some miners are now becoming tour guides or making sulfur souvenirs, but most keep working as they always have. Narrator: At the end of the
day, Mistar returns home to eat dinner with his family and rest. Ijen loons over them, a symbol of how Mistar provides
for his family's lives, while it slowly takes his. A heavy weight to carry on his shoulders.
So if we switch away from oil where does the sulfur we require come from
Sulphur typically only costs $100-200 per tonne on the seaborne market. I don't understand how anyone makes money doing this.
What hit me the hardest was when he said "To foreign tourists, working as a sulfur miner is not a job that is respected."
I believe any physically demanding job, no matter how big or small, should be highly respected, especially when they risk their health and ultimately their lives to survive.
That is an amazing video. So interesting and human at the same time. Someone had a genius idea reporting on this.
Can't we have like a Kickstarter or something to get these guys masks? It seems like having masks would make everything infinitely better for them
Very sad that they have to earn a measly living this way. Imagine doing this every day for a meal of rice only to get up the next day and do it again. Heartbreaking when you consider the wealth of the industries using the product.
Why dont they put some heavy cloth or a piece of leather between the bar they are carrying and their shoulder?
In the 1980s, Freeport-McMoRan built an off shore sulfur mine. At the time it was the largest offshore platform in the world. Main Pass Mine 299, it was about 29 miles offshore from Venice, Louisiana. It was over 1 mile from the sulfur mines to the holding tanks. There was a four story office building that also was sleeping quarters. They put over a billion dollars into this operation. It closed in 1992 as the demand and price for sulfur fell.