Diving for Gold. Risky job in the Philippines Klondike | RT Documentary

The Diving for Gold documentary takes the viewers to Panaon Island in the Philippines, home to Pinut-an barangay, the Philippines’ underwater Klondike. Dozens of divers risk their lives daily to collect golden nuggets off the ocean floor to earn their daily wage.

The technique hasn’t changed since the 19th century; the only difference is that water is pumped by machines instead of people, and the divers use suits. Yet, the process remains very dangerous and harmful to the environment. The divers disrupt the coastal integrity by digging tunnels and bringing all the sand and gravel on the shore. The job carries a significant threat to the divers. If they miscalculate their ascent, they could die from decompression sickness.

Still, this is the only way for the area residents to earn money, even if it is barely enough to buy food for the day. So they managed to stay and hold on to the trade the even big corporations couldn’t handle due to the low margins.

More exciting yet chilling stories about the divers’ routine — in our documentary.

00:00 – intro
0:46 – Pinut-an barangay is the Philippines’ underwater Klondike
2:46 – the problem here is that the gold divers cripple coastal integrity
5:00 – if the weather is fine, divers can earn up to 500 pesos a day
7:01 – divers cut down on safety, which results in many fatalities
9:02 – the classic gold extraction method is called ‘pan amalgamation.’
10:34 – how gold prices are calculated
12:42 – all money divers earn goes on everyday essentials

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