A Glimpse of a few Burmite Mines

[Biotalker]

I thought TFF-ers might be interested in seeing the environment and mines where cretaceous burmite inclusions come from. No specific identifying information on these sites were provided. Burmite can be found at the surface and deep inside the mines. 

[PRLE]

Interesting glimpse of the real world.  Hopefully everybody understand that it's not PHD students and their professors lovingly digging and preserving fossils/amber in most of the world. 

 

It's a way to eke out a living for the guys on the bottom of the pole, such as the ones pictured above with all the environmental/human issues that come with it. 

 

I'd imagine they get paid pennies on the dollar these fossils bring in to the final seller.  

 

Still beats a day at the office, amirite?  Maybe not.  

[Crusty_Crab]

2 hours ago, Biotalker said:

I thought TFF-ers might be interested in seeing the environment and mines where cretaceous burmite inclusions come from. No specific identifying information on these sites were provided. Burmite can be found at the surface and deep inside the mines. 

 

 

Anyone else notice the 2 guys going for a swim in the pond made by mine tailings? Or are they bathing. making the most of their situation?

 

2 hours ago, Biotalker said:

I

 

The multitude of canoes suggests that was how the workers got here. That suggests the site is along a river bank. Erosion from the river exposed the fossil bearing layers (typically within coal seams). If you look at the areas where they are mining, they are targeting the dark layers. It looks like they discovered an exposure, then intensive mining to target the seams. As a consequence, the river appears to have been dammed with the tailings, cutting off the natural flow and potentially disrupting the ecosystem. The spoils from their mining operations appear to have made mini dams, creating little ponds which apparently serve as swimming holes/baths and creating new mini ecosystems. The ethics of burmite mining has been discussed extensively and is more eloquently elaborated elsewhere: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-021-01493-1. Thanks for providing context and primary evidence as to what goes on there.