Glacier Gold (50 images)

A weakened global economy has been pushing the price of gold skyward for years. The price of gold extends far beyond its street value creating a kind of 3rd world gold rush. No place demonstrates this better than the Rinconada mine of Peru: a modern day gold-rush town high in the Andes. Snaking beneath a receding glacer this town's population has exploded in recent years with most inhabitants living in squaller and panning for gold flakes in the sewer-filled streets.