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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
Miners carry a goats head for burial in the crater as part of an annual offering ceremony on the Ijen volcano on December 17, 2013 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. (Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

Miners carry a goats head for burial in the crater as part of an annual offering ceremony on the Ijen volcano on December 17, 2013 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The ritual is performed by the sulfur miners of Mount Ijen who slaughter a goat and then bury the head in the crater of mount Ijenn. The sacrifice is performed to ward off potential disasters for the next year. (Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)
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22 Dec 2013 10:15:00
Sulfur mining in Kawah Ijen Lake

The Ijen volcano complex is a group of stratovolcanoes, in East Java, Indonesia. It is inside a larger caldera Ijen, which is about 20 kilometers wide. The Gunung Merapi stratovolcano is the highest point of that complex. The name of this volcano resembles that of a different volcano, Mount Merapi in central Java, also known as Gunung Merapi; there is also a third volcano named Marapi in Sumatra. The name "Merapi" means "fire" in the Indonesian language.
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03 Aug 2012 08:37:00


Traditional miners carry sulphur on the Ijen volcano complex on May 25, 2009 outside Banyuwangi, East Java, Indonesia. Miners carry the solidified yellow sulphur blocks from the crater floor to the rim for as many hours a day as they can tolerate, paid by the kilogram of sulphur they extract. The average wage is USD $.05 per kilogram of sulphur and a worker, depending on his strength and stamina, carry on average 3 baskets of 70-80kg per day, earning him around USD $11. (Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)
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08 Jul 2011 10:53:00