About the project:
Daily work in copper and silver mines and smelters in Poland.
At the time when I worked on this photo-essay, in 2012 and 2013, Poland was the leader among largest global mined silver producers and in the top ten among largest global producers of refined copper.
All the production of these metals come from the same ore in South-Western Poland. Silver and also some amount of gold are by-products after the production of copper.
All these metals are mined and produced by Poland’s one of the biggest and richest company, KGHM.
The majority of copper produced in KGHM is exported to China, which is the world’s biggest consumer of this metal. Silver and gold is mainly exported to Great Britain to HSBC bank.
Poland, 2012-2013.