Excavators work to find 15 miners who were buried in a collapse near the town of Santander de Quilichao in Colombia as 1500 illegal miners look on.

Colombia is an amazing country with lots of opportunity to increase its wealth and quality of life for her people by developing its mining industry.  Regretfully, its lack of leadership and enforcement is causing the industry and the opportunities to dissolve into human suffering and tragedy.

Illegal mining is rampant and uncontrollable.  Of the country’s more than 14,000 mining operations, more than 63% are illegal, and of the quasi-legal mines, less than half have the proper permits leaving only 20% in compliance.

There have been about 25 significant mining accidents so far this year.  In the past week alone, 4 people died after inhaling gases in an illegal gold mine near the town of Buritica Antioquia in the Department of Cauca,  Colombia , and there is little hope of rescuing at least 15 miners who were buried in a collapse near Santandar de Quilichao. Heavy machinery available locally to assist in the rescue were delayed because the owners are also working illegally and didn’t want their equipment impounded.

The National Mining Agency (ANM) said that from January to September 2013 were 66 reported emergencies in which 71 people died and 51 were injured.

Many illegal mines are run by criminal or paramilitary elements.  The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) , present in the west of the country , benefit from this type of activity by charging fees for entry and operation of backhoes, as well as extortion of production proceeds.  Many illegal mining areas have rampant criminal activity with drugs and guns and prostitution and explosives all easily available.  Although the armed forces have established a division to combat and eradicate illegal mining, it remains in a widespread practice in Colombia.