Sulphur Miner

One of the most highly sought-after minerals in Isturoth is sulphur. While there is no shortage of active volcanoes in Isturoth, the ones that make good sulfur mines are few and far between. One only needs to look for the yellow, crystalline lumps of sulphur that solidify along the banks of a crater lake, acidic enough to dissolve clothes, eat through metal, and cause serious breathing and other health problems.

Perception

Purpose

Sulphur has a wide variety of applications in the growing industrialisation of Isturoth. It is most commonly used in making explosives, fertilizer, oil refining, water processing, and mineral extraction.

Social Status

With Isturoth in the midst of an industrial revolution, there is more pressure than ever being placed on making sulphur mining more efficient by means of production lines and mechanical technology.
Despite this, many sites still use manual labour, as they have done for centuries. However, the public perception of this role is that this is a job for the truly desolate. The high fatality rate and extremely demanding work turn many away from this profession, despite the high demand for sulphur.

Operations

Tools

Miners are provided with aprons, gloves and hoods, which protect their eyes and give some filter to the air they breath. It is up to the workers to provide the rest of their outfit they will wear into the volcano, particularly boots.
They are also given access to a variety of picks and shovels to break apart the chunks of sulphur, and buckets for hauling.

Workplace

The most modern sulphur mines may have rails laid for minecarts to be filled emptied from. In the steaming heat of the acid lake, miners will chip away large chunks of crystallised sulphur and fill minecarts, which are then towed back down the side of the volcano to a weighing station. More rustic installations will rely entirely on miners filling buckets that they will carry on their shoulders up to the rim and back down the volcano.
These mines are also those that are more frugal on protective equipment for miners, and so the fatality rate is much higher.

Dangers & Hazards

Aside from the obvious hazards of working inside an active volcano, there are a number of other threats specific to this line of work. The lake of water is so acidic, it can eat through clothes and metal, making even the best protective gear relatively useless.
Without warning, cracks and fissures can appear in the rock, releasing a burst of toxic fumes. If a miner is not equipped with adequate protection, this can prove fatal. These are gases so concentrated they burn the eyes and throat, and can eventually dissolve the miners' teeth.
The temperature of sulphur when in liquid form is over 112°C, which hardens and crystallises as it cools. This is enough to give serious burns to any skin it comes into contact with.

Type

Raw Materials Gathering

Demand

High Demand