モロッコの廃墟となった宝石鉱山の内部

モロッコの廃墟となった宝石鉱山の内部

wow you can see how high up it goes Achraf Achraf deep inside Morocco’s mountains there are places people forgot but the land hasn’t today today we’re going searching for the mines that built this country Morocco’s mining story runs deep and today that trail has LED us to an old lead mine many people have forgotten about hi everyone we’re currently driving to a place called Ahouli which is very deep into the Atlas it’s a very long drive and it’s very remote and the only people that live here are nomads well these roads are getting worse and worse I read online somewhere that if you come here they advise you to take a 4 by 4 and some people said that you can do it with a regular car so we don’t have a 4 by 4 so I hope it will be okay we just arrived at this lead mine and we’re in the middle of a Canyon and the echo is very strong here and you can see the abandoned buildings here it’s very interesting like in the 50s there were thousand Moroccan workers who used to work here and now it’s just entirely abandoned the Ahouli mines opened in the early 20th century under French colonial management hundreds of workers lived here in camps while thousands of tons of ore were extracted today the shafts are abandoned but the scars remain oh here you can still see the ramp where it’s just so steep that carts went down with all the things they mined and then it could be put into trucks and moved away here this was all initially built by the French but then when Morocco gained independence in 1956 they took it over and they continued the operations but it lasted until the 70s because then in the 70s they just started mining less and eventually they also had a lot of incidents so for safety they had to close oh you can still see the leftovers from these big metal containers where the lead would go in and then be stored in here but that’s all broken down I think they probably looted a lot of the metal here and covered it with a lot of sand here too I think we can go up here to go in the mine because it seems open there there’s a railroad bridge here to take it from that mountain to this mountain I have one it’s small it’s small okay maybe we have a light these are all things they excavate here these are things that my friend in the Netherlands Denise she would love this we got a headlamp and he’s coming with us so we can go all the way in oh there are some other people there how many people still work here today? the mine’s story began in 1909 when the French discovered rich deposits of lead in these mountains they returned in 1912 to begin large scale extraction transforming the region overnight it became the second place in Morocco to have electricity right after Casablanca and the first with a railway running straight to Oran in what was then French Algeria this is one of the longest tunnels in morocco it goes 20 kilometers deep is it dangerous inside here the mine is so deep that people that work in here they take a motorcycle to go all the way in there’s one here oh it’s very narrow to pass here our friend seems to know everyone in the mines and for a good reason he started working here back in 2004 following in his father’s footsteps after years of hard work he saved enough to open a small supply store to help miners get what they need though he stopped mining he still loves sharing the history of this place with anyone who visits while we’re walking sometimes it’s leaking a lot of water through the stones and it just keeps on going and it just keeps on going it’s only 1 kilometer we’re in but it’s 20 kilometer deep do you ever have people that get lost here? here it splits into two tunnels so if you get lost here then you have to clearly remember which way you went and it also gets more and more muddy and I got my great shoes on perfect for going in a mine and they put uh metals here so that the rocks don’t fall down does this go all the way up how high is this this does this go deep as well here? 400 meters down here oh you can all the way go to the top of the mountain through this I wasn’t expecting that it would be so big inside and that there would actually still be so many people working here he’s checking sometimes if these rocks are still tight that it wouldn’t fall down if people walk here here is the mineral that they take out oh yeah you might it might not look like this but if you step in here it’s just immediately 400 meters down there’s a lot of deep wells here in the mine and the miners they take water out there just uh probably to take away the dust while they’re all mining and to just make clearance oh yeah oh he just found a little bit of gold in the mountain oh there’s still clothing left here from people here are some workers and they just I think they sleep here even cause they have a fire there and they’re cooking and I see a bed wow oh it’s nice and warm inside here what are you making thank you it was actually kind of cozy in there it was like cause inside here it’s sometimes a bit cold sometimes a bit warm but there it was like a nice temperature wow you can see how high up it goes if he would now leave us we would totally be lost here because I have no idea anymore how to go yeah everything looks the same it’s such a labyrinth here because apparently we’re just walking there and we just made it up through this hole but then all the way around and I don’t even know yeah yeah this here used to be an oxygen pipe that went from outside all the way through the mountain to here to give the workers also some uh oxygen here in these rooms a minor worker that works here how much does he make on average did any of your ancestors also work here when the company was still here? must be hard to find that such a small blue spot in the middle of the mountain my god I thought something was caving in we have to be a bit quicker Achraf because the guy is going away and otherwise we’ll never find our way back it’s getting a lot warmer in here and also you get a lot lot less oxygen here cause the air is getting denser and denser harder to breathe Achraf huh oh you can hear your voice so well even though you’re so far Salam Assalamualaikum and in the old days they used to have a door here and then also a door over here and they used to close this whenever it started raining or whenever it was leaking and then this would fill up with water entirely and then later on they would flood it all out I wonder if you have to go to the toilet here if they just poop anywhere oh it’s leaking here it’s probably just gonna be like that water with iron in there that makes stains on clothing I made the the very bad decision to go into a mine with a white shirt really I don’t believe him we’re back at the exit it’s already a little bit darker now how did the French used to treat the people that worked here when they still had their company here he told us that back in the colonial days the French used to hand out free cigarettes and beer to the miners not out of generosity but to keep them addicted and under control the conditions were so brutal that the company eventually changed its name to distance itself from its colonial past today it’s known as Imerys when the company first came here they found nomads living in the area they offered them jobs in the mines and the nomads gladly accepted because back then there wasn’t much else to do in the region besides herding how did you acquire all these documents do you see the fish? oh yeah he threw them in here the river that crosses here where this bridge is made over is called the Moulouya River but the water of it is mostly contaminated from all the mining when the French built all this they made some quarters there for the European engineers that came here and they’re in quite good quality but then the quarters they built for the mine workers from Morocco they’re not in such a good condition so you can definitely see uh the colonial hierarchy in the architecture it’s interesting that even after all this time when all these companies left that uh independent miner workers still come here and they still make a living here and it’s such a beautiful environment too he’s going to show us some nice nature nearby and then we’re gonna drop him off at his house oh here are still a lot of houses left from people that live here the miners that live here together they have a lot of things by example they even have a cinema here assalamualaikum in a bit I’ll come up to there that must’ve taken a long time people that work here do they also live here here you can see all the worker’s houses when the French started this mining company they built some houses for the Arab workers but for the Amazigh workers they just told them to fuck off and build their own houses only for a very few they build a house like these ones here that are all now in ruins and it’s also very far from the mining site so they had to walk all the way here but right now there’s just nothing left of it it was like a small village here with all the Amazigh mine workers living here wow this is a very dangerous place to climb in the dark because it’s just like 500 m deep here you do not have to have any fear of height because if you look here it just goes straight down there you like adventure from here from the village there was a stairs that went all the way down to the mining site and all the Amazigh workers they had to take this everyday all the way down and all the way back up for dinner? he’s asking us for dinner he’s asking us for tea we can drink some tea do you want yeah sure we still have a lot of road to go it’s fine it’s fine we can drink a bit of tea I’m a tourist I can say that in Morocco when someone invites you you don’t say yes you don’t do that well I just I’m just a stupid tourist OK I’m just whatever I just play the stupid tourist it’s OK it’s interesting how every single of these mining communities always have a cinema the French they built only houses only a few houses not enough but they always build a cinema I asked him I was like do you usually come here by a car or something he was like no if you guys weren’t here I would have walked all that way walked all that yeah he he goes through an alternative way which takes like 50 minutes oh that would still take a long time every single day all these areas here that were once built by the French they just deserted it when they closed all the mines and now the people that still work in the mines they just live in it now do you have collectors or something that come and buy this from you cheers Mohamed told us that this region is known for its vanadinite a rare deep red mineral that can fetch a lot of money though finding it is rare and mostly a matter of luck he has one of those stones that he calls vana or minerals and he has a small piece of it wow again Amazigh people are so welcoming and friendly he even gave us this whole like collection of stones yeah show me very expensive so he just didn’t give a few he just gave like oh take them all yeah it was like give them to your friends yeah so any of my friends that see this video if they want the stone contact us yeah thousand euros half will go to him the legacy of mining still lives on here generations later families carry on the same traditions working the same land and living in the homes their fathers left behind in these quiet mining communes the past still gently echoes through everyday life I’m boiling water to shower only 8 months ago a man was unalived the mountain caved in on him may god help you my friend! he said we went the wrong way if you want a light he said you can have one it’s freezing around 100 people the mines were what made this region prosper before they were only nomads every 50 meters they write down how deep we are here per example we reached 100 meters and every 50 meters they make a hole so they can hide when they detonate the dynamite given the type of work it’s risky so many people were affected here the mountain may cave in on people when they’re working only 8 months ago a man was unalived the mountain caved in on him assalamu alaikum may god help you brother get out of my way! gladly brother may god help you my friend! we’re already at a kilometer and 200 I was here one time on a sunday when no one is here and inside here there were two guys who got in only with one phone and it died so they had to walk sideways against the wall this was the elevator they used he said be careful because people are working up there in case they throw something around 80 meters 400 meters up there is 80 meters and you walk a bit there and there’s another 80 and then walk a bit more then another 80 until you get out of the mountain yeah this is the lead be careful that’s a well attention 400 meters in every 10 kg of this material you can get 500mg of gold it’s very warm here I’m boiling water to shower honestly I don’t even know how people navigate around here surfing in the mine do you also notice that it smells very metal-like? from the lead is quite scarce and even then it’s only 5 dirhams per kilo 3 or 4 people collect two bags every bag has 40 kilos splitted for 4 people it will be 20 kilos per person 20 kilos x 5 dirhams makes it 100 dirhams and in case you find a lot of minerals you can make 500 dirhams out of it my grandfather was retired with this company he was a miner and then they made him a guard when I worked with my dad here, he used to teach me he taught me for around 12 years but if someone who has no experience with this comes here that type of people are the ones that create problems he just sees the mineral and starts randomly mining then the mountain caves in on him because he isn’t knowledgeable if you see this, that means that copper is nearby we’re struggling to breathe and he’s just whistling the whole national anthem you can see so much just bottles and pieces of food laying everywhere from the miners that just take it in Salam Assalamualaikum he said we went the wrong way because it’s closed off I doubt it you either worked hard or leave they weren’t caring or nice from what they told us they really suffered on this bridge here was the train that pulled all the minecarts they used all these trains to transport it this is the one from midelt to oran miner’s salary receipts a day’s salary 7 moroccan francs these are all the people who used to work here when all these buildings went up for auction some old houses became accessible and there you would find these kind of papers oh yeah that’s a huge one! souvenir I can give you a better one there’s no problem with this one though here’s an amethyst rock don’t bother yourself please, take it here Wallah you’ll take it, don’t bother yourself just remember me with it it’s moroccans fighting out of niceness I have to refuse this normally but I won’t thanks you alright? do you wanna drink some tea with us? he has cleaned it this is the vip section for the company’s bosses and all the workers would be down there they were offering them everything you’d work whether you like it or not before, the dirt was up to here they’re from the village and the region here, they all grew up here their whole lives was here oh my god my brain cannot do this do you need some help I have to use this at the same time he has to film with two hands and I have to translate to him I think my left brain and my right brain my right brain half is just like doing why did he take that side when he could’ve just walked around we are amazigh if you notice here these doors that look like this they made these big sealed doors because the river would flood and reach half the buildings and these doors prevents the water from going inside please come there’s no problem just to drink a cup of tea so what do you think he’s bold wanna come with me? okay let’s go then it’s a great day for me brother one time I posted an amethyst and a foreigner texted me recently I sold it for 3500 dirhams assalamu alaikum assalamu alaikum, you alright? is everything good? alhamdulilah is everything good? alhamdulilah thanks a lot that’s my mother you’re welcome moroccan whiskey for some people it takes 3 or 4 years and for some other people, as soon as they start, they find it there was once a guy who gained 7 million euros this vanadinite saves around 3 families a year you can take it you may be in a country where it’s scarce and sell it for high and god makes you rich

Deep underground in the Moroccan mines

Hidden in the mountains near Midelt lies the abandoned Ahouli Mine — once one of Morocco’s richest sources of lead and vanadinite. What was once a bustling French colonial mining site is now a maze of dark tunnels, rusted machinery, and forgotten homes carved into the red cliffs.

In this documentary vlog, we explore the lost world of Ahouli — venturing deep inside Morocco’s abandoned gemstone mines to uncover the lives of those who once worked here. From crumbling miner homes to vast underground tunnels, every corner tells a story of ambition, danger, and decay.

Once the second region in Morocco to receive electricity after Casablanca, Ahouli was a place of promise — but today, it stands as a ghost town where miners’ descendants still live among the ruins of a vanished industry.

📍 Locations: Ahouli, Midelt province
📅 Filmed: 2025
🎥 Style: Documentary vlog

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WATCH NEXT:

👁️ Watch next: These People in Morocco Live in Cave Houses

👁️ Watch next: Inside Morocco’s Abandoned Hospital Said to Be Haunted

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CHAPTERS:
00:00 – Moroccan Mining Frontier;
1:29 – Abandoned Lead Mine;
3:13 – Inside the Tunnels;
4:38 – Meeting the Miners;
9:03 – Hunting Vanadinite Crystals;
9:52 – Lost Underground;
11:28 – Colonial Past Revealed;
13:59 – Forgotten Mountain Village;
16:00 – Abandoned Amazigh Homes;
17:30 – Tea with Locals;
19:11 – €2 Million Vanadinite Find;

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🎵 Music from Epidemic Sound: https://share.epidemicsound.com/20vlz7
🎬 Stock & Drone Footage: 1.envato.market/mOojBM

🎒 Travel Gear:
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– DJI Pocket 3
– DJI Action
– iPhone 16

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WHO AM I?
Hi, I’m Jonathan Le Blanc. I create raw, documentary-style travel videos to tell human stories that rarely make it to the mainstream. My channel explores misunderstood, overlooked, or misrepresented places around the world.

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💟 Edited by: @Ajjouche on IG

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