Why Sand Divers Risk Their Lives 300 Times A Day For The World's Most Mined Resource

sand is the most mined material in the world and in this part of Africa miners like Yona Elvis dive up to 300 times a day wearing little to no clothes scooping out buckets that are 33 lb [Music] 60% of the sand used in concrete around the world comes from riverbeds like this one in Cameroon and Global demand for it has tripled in the last two decades satellite images from China show how it has changed the shape of a major body of water and now experts say sand is being extracted much faster than it can be

naturally replaced so how can the world avoid a sand crisis and what does it mean for people like Elvis who rely on it to survive Yona Elvis's home in Southwestern Cameroon is made from the same sand he mines every day he lives with his family and pet monkey Curtis [Music] [Applause] his home is just a short walk away from the river [Applause] Quarry there he meets up with his diving partner jumbi they can look out for each other in case [Music] emergencies the worry is one of cameroon's largest rivers flowing for nearly 100 miles it's

known as the river of prawns but fishermen are seeing a decline due to sand mining once they reach the deepest part mumi pushes the stick into the ground to Anchor the boat Elvis jumps in wearing nothing but skintight shorts to swim more easily in the water then he uses a steel bucket to scoop up sand from the river floor the the water is so murky Elvis can't see anything even if he wore goggles after 12 years he says he's mastered the art of controlling his breath and conserving his energy Elvis and John we take turns

scooping out water that fills the canoe after 2 hours of diving and dumping their exhaustion begins to show locals say deaths are common here but because this is an unregulated profession there are no official records on injuries or fatalities Elvis nearly drowned once while helping a new Diver by the end of Elvis's 4-Hour shift he has excavated 9 tons of wet sand that's equal to the weight of two African elephants his boss who owns the canoe will sell this sand to local contractors and pay each of them about $122 a day it's more than Elvis

can make from fishing but it's barely enough to afford three meals a day Elvis and his family of four scrape by on this salary but some people are in the line of work for other reasons like minor K Sim who views it as a sport he competes in local sand mining tournaments and says he's earned the title of champion spends 30 minutes exercising in every morning and even runs to the Quarry his role model is Africa's first heavyweight UFC champion Francis nanu today he's seen as a local hero in this region someone who escaped a

life of poverty to become one of the best MMA fighters in the world [Music] meanwhile go continues to plunge 23 ft underwater to test his strength and earn enough cash for him his wife and two kids some of the sand is exported to countries like South Africa the Central African Republic and even France but as Cameroon is in the midst of a construction boom most of the sand is used locally to make concrete demand for sand across the world has reached 50 billion tons per year enough to build a ninstory wall around the planet the

kind found in riverbeds comes from rocks that broke apart over millions of years as they traveled Downstream the coar leftover grains are sharper and can carry more moisture sure than desert sand which makes them the perfect binding material for construction in 20122 the global market for construction sand was worth about $23 billion it is expected to grow to$ 46.5 billion by 2031 the United States is the world's top producer while China is the biggest consumer of sand but it also produces its own boang Lake in Jang shei province is the biggest sand mine on the

planet satellite images show just how much excavation has changed the northern branch of the country's largest freshwater lake more than doubling its surface area from 1997 to 2019 the lake is also a key Flood outlet for the young shei River and its tributaries all of which are mined excessively to all this mining is causing water levels in the lake to Fall abnormally during winter months IND dangering aquatic animals like porpuses and populations of migratory Birds other countries have similar problems in cambodia's Mong river barges scrape out more sand than can be naturally replaced this kind

of large-scale dredging caused Riverbanks to collapse twice in 2021 the river becomes deeper and the the way that the river will flow will either be faster or slower depending on how the shape is affected and that has consequences on river flows ands on potential flooding or drought dams Upstream have also reduced the flow of sediment to the lower part of the Mong experts say mining is also to blame for erosion along cambodia's Coastline anything that we take out of the environment has an impact if you take the sand from rivers that sand will not reach

the coastline So eventually it will L to Coastal erosion mining is also taking a toll on local fishing villages tin Usos lives on a boat with his wife and granddaughter he makes a living fishing in the nearby tonle sap and Mong Rivers but he says work is tough lately the because all the dring has disrupted the fish supply and because of the receding water levels his livelihood is at stake fore fore spe but here in cambodia's Capital Sand is fueling a housing boom since 2003 developers have filled in 60% of Punam pan lakes with sand

to create Prime real estate for Villas and shopping malls but people who have lived and worked on these Lakes for decades now face eviction as trucks full of sand and gravel get closer and closer to their homes Cambodia also exports sand un data for the past decade shows the country sent $27 Million worth to countries like Singapore Thailand and China rapid urbanization around the world is what's driving up demand in India 25 to 30 people are migrating every minute from rural areas to cities by 2030 the country's Urban population is likely to reach 600 million

in and they will all need housing so India is Excavating sand too here miners extract it from the Becki River using basic equipment it's polluting the water and destroying riverbeds and fish populations but for some mining for sand is as valuable as finding gold and many work illegally in dangerous conditions because the money is worth it they can earn up to $15 for a boatload of sand which is four times the average daily wage in India now sand is being mined faster than it can be replaced through natural geological processes so some companies are now

manufacturing it to help reduce the impact on rivers and lakes they Crush Bedrock often from old construction sites or demolition waste this creates partic about the same size as sand they are filtered and washed to remove impurities like silt or clay which can damage concrete that's why experts say manufactured sand is even better than natural sand for building but crushing and grinding m sand can pollute surrounding Soil and Water and it's more cost effective because it's often produced closer to construction sites Bringing Down the cost of Transportation but back in Cameron people still continue to

mine from riverbeds after a long day of work his muscles are sore so he kicks back relaxes with his colleagues at the local bar and he brightens up when he thinks about what really motivates him to do this work [Music] for fantastic [Music]