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Miners pulling up lazy tourists to the rim of Kawah Ijen (Ijen Volcano), East Java, Indonesia on September 21, 2017. They will earn as much as they would bring down a load of sulfur. Nomadic Explorer, Cultural Lifestyle Photographer Claudio Sieber captured striking images of miners working at Ijen volcanic range in East Java, Indonesia. The sulphur miners risk their lives daily as they climb the active volcano carrying heavy loads, which they sell to sugar refineries. Shortly after midnight curious tourists are flocking in hundreds through the gate of Ijen's foothills to be right on time, driven by the images others took before them. Kawah Ijen is the one of the world's largest acidic volcanic crater lake; famous for its turquoise color as well as the unreal atmosphere it offers during darkness. A dusty path zigzags 3 kilometers up to the crater rim. This doesn't mean anything challenging; in particular, special sights have to be deserved anyway. The irritating smell of sulfur announces the near of the crater's existence. Arriving on the crater's rim the reward for the torture becomes visible. Blue fire darts its tongues through the fumes of sulfur dioxide. Somehow, the spectacle isn't as romantic as expected, since it is also the rough working space of approx. 150 sulfur miners who start their shift at 1 am. Lately, harvesting the abundance of devil's gold received international attention. This did obviously not really improve a miner's lifestyle; neither did it contribute to a better wage. (Photo by Claudio Sieber/Barcroft Images)

Miners pulling up lazy tourists to the rim of Kawah Ijen (Ijen Volcano), East Java, Indonesia on September 21, 2017. They will earn as much as they would bring down a load of sulfur. Nomadic Explorer, Cultural Lifestyle Photographer Claudio Sieber captured striking images of miners working at Ijen volcanic range in East Java, Indonesia. The sulphur miners risk their lives daily as they climb the active volcano carrying heavy loads, which they sell to sugar refineries. (Photo by Claudio Sieber/Barcroft Images)
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02 Oct 2017 08:31:00
Men work at Makala gold mine camp near the town of Mongbwalu in Ituri province, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on April 7, 2018. (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

Men work at Makala gold mine camp near the town of Mongbwalu in Ituri province, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on April 7, 2018. (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)
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13 Apr 2018 00:05:00
A illegal gold miner of Kamoro people, Tinus, pan for gold on February 4, 2017 in Timika, Papua Province, Indonesia. (Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

A illegal gold miner of Kamoro people, Tinus, pan for gold on February 4, 2017 in Timika, Papua Province, Indonesia. Indonesia produces over 70 billion dollars in gold a year and is home to the largest gold mine and the third largest copper mine in the world, the Grasberg mine, which is located at West Papua. (Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)
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09 Feb 2017 00:05:00
A gold prospector is detained by agents of Brazil’s environmental agency on the Uraricoera River during an operation against illegal gold mining on indigenous land, in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, in Roraima state, Brazil April 15, 2016. (Photo by Bruno Kelly/Reuters)

A gold prospector is detained by agents of Brazil’s environmental agency on the Uraricoera River during an operation against illegal gold mining on indigenous land, in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, in Roraima state, Brazil April 15, 2016. At over 9.5 million hectares, the Yanomami territory is twice the size of Switzerland and home to around 27,000 indians. The land has legally belonged to the Yanomami since 1992, but illegal miners continue to plague the area, sawing down trees and poisoning rivers with mercury in their lust for gold. (Photo by Bruno Kelly/Reuters)
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27 Apr 2016 10:01:00
An engineer (L) talks to a driver of a dump truck loaded with gold-bearing soil at the Vostochny opencast of the Olimpiada gold operation, owned by Polyus Gold International company, in Krasnoyarsk region, Eastern Siberia, Russia, June 30, 2015. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

An engineer (L) talks to a driver of a dump truck loaded with gold-bearing soil at the Vostochny opencast of the Olimpiada gold operation, owned by Polyus Gold International company, in Krasnoyarsk region, Eastern Siberia, Russia, June 30, 2015. Polyus Gold International is the largest gold producer in Russia and one of the top 10 gold miners globally by ounces produced, according to the official web site of the company. Olimpiada is Polyus Gold's largest operation. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)
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04 Jul 2015 11:12:00
A boy carries a dog as he stands after a Peruvian police operation to destroy illegal gold mining camps in a zone known as Mega 14, in the southern Amazon region of Madre de Dios July 14, 2015. Peruvian police razed dozens of illegal gold mining camps at the edge of an Amazonian nature reserve this week, part of a renewed bid to halt the spread of wildcatting in a remote rainforest region. (Photo by Janine Costa/Reuters)

A boy carries a dog as he stands after a Peruvian police operation to destroy illegal gold mining camps in a zone known as Mega 14, in the southern Amazon region of Madre de Dios July 14, 2015. Peruvian police razed dozens of illegal gold mining camps at the edge of an Amazonian nature reserve this week, part of a renewed bid to halt the spread of wildcatting in a remote rainforest region. (Photo by Janine Costa/Reuters)
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18 Jul 2015 12:29:00
Ingots of 99.99 percent pure silver are cast at the Krastsvetmet Krasnoyarsk non-ferrous metals plant in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, June 5, 2015. Krastsvetmet is one of the world's largest players in the precious metals industry. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin

Ingots of 99.99 percent pure silver are cast at the Krastsvetmet Krasnoyarsk non-ferrous metals plant in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, June 5, 2015. Krastsvetmet is one of the world's largest players in the precious metals industry. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin
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13 Jun 2015 10:20:00
People leave a camp after a Peruvian police operation to destroy illegal gold mining camps in La Pampa, in the southern Amazon region of Madre de Dios, Peru  August 11, 2015. Picture taken August 11, 2015. (Photo by Sebastian Castaneda/Reuters)

People leave a camp after a Peruvian police operation to destroy illegal gold mining camps in La Pampa, in the southern Amazon region of Madre de Dios, Peru August 11, 2015. Picture taken August 11, 2015. (Photo by Sebastian Castaneda/Reuters)
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15 Aug 2015 11:26:00