SALINAS GRANDES - ARGENTINA

Under the view of the Nevado Chani mountains at an altitude of 6200 meters, there extends a huge, white, and salty desert named Salinas Grandes. We find ourselves in the northernmost province of Argentina; Jujuy.

Here we find the actors who give life to this inhospitable but beautiful location; they are the Salt Workers. All born in tiny towns that don’t even appear on the maps; places like, Pozo Colorado, Cerro Negro or 3 Pozos.

Some of them inherited their profession from their grandfathers and fathers, who left their lives in the salt. Others, just don’t have any better jobs and don’t have any other options than to grab the axe with valor. They work on a high plateau 3600 meters above sea level. Their job is accompanied by harsh climactic conditions with temperatures oscillating between -10C and 25C, in the course of a day. On top of the altitude and the cold, there is another natural enemy; the luminosity. The rays of the sun fall without mercy on a totally flat and white surface, reflecting back in all directions, and causing serious ocular lesions, due to their lack of any eye protection.

The workers don’t receive any government help, so in 1993 they formed a 24 member cooperative to help each other, guarantee future work and present a stronger front against private corporations that count on mechanical means of exploiting the salt.

The salt is generally exploited during the so-called dry season, from march to end of november. There are 3 methods of extracting the mineral:

1st is to scratch the surface in the shape of hexagons. The salt obtained is of optimal quality for human consumption, and is called, “flower of the salt”.

The 2nd way of working is through a system of small pools. It’s much more labor intensive as the top, hard layer of the surface has to be broken in the shape of a rectangle. Then they keep digging until the filtered water rises to the surface, eliminating the dirty salt and making the pool deeper. On the sides, and by shoveling inside the pools, pyramids of salt are created that need to dry for 4 or 5 days before being bagged.

The 3rd and last method is that of the bricks or “salt breads”. To extract it, salt axes are used. Hit after hit, a line is defined, and a block is extracted (about 15 kgs). These are exclusively used for animal consumption as part of their diets.