The internet is an educational place — often in the most unpleasant of ways. You’ll just be scrolling through memes when suddenly you’re informed that rich countries just ship their trash to Malaysia (who really, really don’t like it, by the way). Or you’ll be reading a random article when you get recommended a piece titled “13 Islands That Will Disappear in the Next 80 Years.” (Yes, that’s real.)
One such dark topic brought to light by the internet is “sand mining,” and it’s capturing attention in the strangest of places. In numerous posts on TikTok, often captioned with tone-deaf things like “satisfying” and “relaxing,” users can watch people work in what is obviously a dangerous and terribly destructive job.
Ignoring the clear danger — it feels like every one of these clips cuts before someone gets eaten by a river of sand — what is the actual purpose of sand mining? Why are these people risking their lives for something that covers literally a tenth of the earth? Money, of course.
“Sand mining is the world’s largest mining endeavor, responsible for 85 percent of all mineral extraction,” writes Fred Pearce for Yale Environment 360. “It is also the least regulated, and quite possibly the most corrupt and environmentally destructive.”
As for why the sand is needed in the first place, the piece notes that sand is used in everything from concrete to asphalt to land reclamation, glass making and fracking.
As it turns out, you can’t just take sand away from somewhere and have everything be A-OK. Locations placed around sand mines suffer from loss of natural wildlife, food, water and a lot more. It’s also super dangerous, and given the lack of regulation, workers are often untrained and underage. Take, for example, UFC legend Francis Ngannou, who began sand mining in Nigeria at age 10. He later detailed his experience on the Joe Rogan Experience.
Knowing all this, it’s hard to find those other videos “satisfying” or “relaxing.” I’ll stick to slime and strangely specific ASMR videos, thank you very much.
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