Working as a digger earns each young man about 500 Afghanis per day or less than $7.
Those who do less-strenuous work, guiding coal-laden donkeys along the twisting paths to the valley floor, earn around $3 per day.
As the economic situation has spiraled in Afghanistan, the new faces at the mines have gotten younger and younger.
Many families have no option other than sending their children out to earn additional income.
Taxation of coal is a significant revenue source for the Taliban.
Young boys engage in backbreaking work to help earn income for their families.
Young miners spend between 12 and 15 hours a day crouched in claustrophobic tunnels, chipping away at the coal by hand.
The conditions inside Dan-e-Tor mines are far from easy.
The flow of more boys and young men to Dan-e-Tor is a clear sign that the dangers are not enough to dissuade desperate job seekers.