The impact of gold mining on the native communities, and forests of the department of Madre de Dios (Peru)

Journals

Title：
The impact of gold mining on the native communities, and forests of the department of Madre de Dios (Peru)
Author：
Carlos Junquera Rubio
Author Affiliation：
Retired Professor, Department of Prehistory and Ethnology, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain
Received：Dec.20, 2023
Accepted：Jan.5, 2024
Published：Jan.15, 2024

Abstract

Gold was known in Peru before the arrival of the Spanish. European mining in the 16th century operated on the coast, and in the Andes, but not in the tropical jungle. The current Peruvian department of Madre de Dios was rich in rubber, and the search for this wealth first meant a great negative impact conducted by strangers, but they created social problems, ethnocides, and destruction in the tropical forest. In 1973 gold appeared on the river beaches, in the Laberinto region. Gold is always an attraction, and the strange population comes soon with the hope of becoming rich, but this is not easy. In this large Peruvian region, gold mining is conducted with traditional means that involve washing the sand with water, and the gold is separated with mercury. The high price of gold has implied informal, and extremely negative development for people, and tropical landscapes. Peruvian authorities have not been able to control the extraction areas but have tolerated illegal activities. The negative impact on the environment devastates, according to calculations, about 150,000 hectares each year, and about 50,000 kilograms of mercury are used to amalgamate the gold.

Keywords

Economy, legal and informal mining, mercury, destroyed tropical forest

Doi

https://doi.org/10.58396/gges020201

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