Typical alluvial pit mine in Sri Lanka. 15 meters under the surface lies the "illam" or gembearing gravel from riverbeds long forgotten. The miners have driven a narrow shaft straight down to where the gems may lie. There is one man at the bottom of the shaft digging and filling up baskets with gem bearing gravel which are hauled to the surface. This is his means of communication to the surface. The 5 miners are partners and share any proceeds from their mine.