EXPLORING OPAL BEARING CLIFFS AT TSEHAY MEWCHA IN WOLLO, WELO, PROVINCE

delanta wegel tena tsehay mewcha
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cliff miners mining welo wollo opal
Miners on the spot.

a group of miners with their tools in wegel tena
Down the canyon, miners with their tools and findings.

shepards in tsehay mewcha
Young shepards at Tsehay Mewcha. This potography was taken by Thomas as we climbed back to the top of the cliffs.

This was published in April 2009. At September 2009 the situation improved and no new accident is reported.

HERE A TRAGEDY : MINING THERE IS DANGEROUS. OVER 10 LOCALS LOST THEIR LIVE IN FEW MONTHS, CRUSHED BY ROCKS. BECAUSE THEY DIGG WITHOUT BASIC SAFETY METHODS. WE IMEDIATELY STARTED AN ACTION WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE ETHIOPIAN MINISTRY OF MINES AND ENERGY TO PREVENT THESE ACCIDENTS. MINING SHOULD BE STOPPED AS LONG AS SECURE BEHAVIOURS ARE NOT REACHED.

Opal is mined all along the first horizontal line (vire) (from bottom) in the cliff. The top is 3200 m high.

Zooming in a nice Wollo white opal parcel ...