SAPPHIRES: THE BLUE GOLD OF MADAGASCAR, 12 YEARS ON | France 2 | la suite

Fortune or death may await them at the end of this dark tunnel shored up by a few planks. 30 feet under the ground¾dry, inhospitable ground¾thousands of miners risk their lives every day to find the blue stone that could lift them out of poverty. We went back to Llakaka, population 40,000, the El Dorado of the sapphire, situated in the south of Madagascar. 12 years ago Llakaka looked like a shantytown set down in a nasty Far West background. The miners spent their meagre fortunes on girls and alcohol. The foreign buyers would only produce their bundles of bills when under armed escort. Ferdinand, 10 years old, had set himself up as a dealer in precious stones. He had introduced us to his girl friend, Olga, aged 12. She sold her charms around the bars of Llakaka. What has become of them? Did they make their fortunes? What is life like in this Far West, 12 years after the start of the rush for the blue gold?