Artisanal miner Nolberto Barrera (R) inspects ore samples from Juan Briones' (L) mine at Copiapo city, north of Santiago, Chile, December 15, 2015. As copper prices have slid to a more than six-year low, miners laboring away at the countless smaller mines that pock mark the Atacama desert are finding the buckets of ore they spend all day digging from the ground are fetching less and less money. "I was working at a copper mine but since prices have dropped I'm going to dedicate myself to gold. It's the only way to make a little bit of money," said Barrera, who even tried his hand at working at a local vineyard before returning to what he knows best. Picture taken December 15, 2015. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado