Small-Scale Peruvian Gold Mining in Madre de Dios

 Peru is Latin America’s leading producer of gold and the sixth largest gold producer in the world; multi-national mining companies produce most of this gold, however, around twenty percent of Peru’s gold exports come from illegal or artisanal mines.[1]For the Peruvian government, the difference between illegal and artisanal mining is that artisanal mines are legal and the Peruvian law states “Artisanal operations are those which benefit from up to 1,000 hectares of land and which excavate less than 25 metric tons of material a day (Law 27651, 2002)” (Peter Low[2]), whereas illegal mining is done on private or public land without government permission. A large portion of the small-scale mining is done in an area of south eastern Peru that boarders Bolivia and Brazil. This area is Madre de Dios and is mostly made up of isolated tropical rainforest. Even though some of small-scale mining is legal, both legal and illegal mining cause detrimental effects on the environment and serious health implications on the miners and the people near the mine.

Effects of small-scale mining, both legal and illegal, can be seen first in and quite obviously in the way it harms the ecosystem of the area in Madre de Dios, Peru. These effects have grown so prominent to the point where government authority and local activists are making efforts to end illegal mining and highly regulate the legal mining operations. The efforts consist of militarized responses towards the illegal mines and spreading awareness of the negative effects[3]. The effects are seen through the initial deforestation of, in most cases, the rainforest to access the soil which contains the gold flakes miners are searching for. The deforestation is terrible for the local wildlife and ecosystem as a whole since it is destroying the animals’ homes, is forcing more wildlife into smaller areas of land, as well as damaging the local water systems. Deforestation in the rain forest effects more than just the local environment, it will affect the rest of the world as well. The tropical rain forest in Peru stores 6.9 billion metric tons of carbon which is 5.16 billion more metric tons than the U.S will emit through transportation emissions every year[4]. The rainforest of Peru is a global asset for naturally reducing carbon emissions and producing oxygen. Once the trees are gone, so is the world’s oxygen supply. Trees are also the environments natural defense against erosion. The trees hold water and the nutrient rich topsoil in place and without it the rain washes it away into the rivers[5]. This effects the soil even before mining begins. The soil then flows down river and redistributing the sediment effecting everywhere downstream.

After an area alongside a river is clear, the real mining process begins. It starts with denotating explosives or digging massive holes adjacent to the the river bank. The miners then spray the pits they have created with highly pressurized water to wash sediment into sieves where the gold flakes are captured, and the unwanted material is washed into the river[6]. Once there is a solution of gold flakes and silt, most of the time mercury is added to extract gold from the silt. Another method is cyaneid extraction, which, whendone correctly is much safer and healthier due to the more advanced equipment needed[7]. However, mercury is the common choice for extraction since it is a quick, easy, and relatively inexpensive. The use of mercury is the main health concern of the ASGM (Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining) since mercury vapor and liquid directly affect the miners and can travel distances far from the mine where their effects can be seen. The effects of mercury poisoning include: permanent brain damage, seizures, birth defects, damages on motor functions, and hearing, vision, and memory loss[8].

The most directly affected group is the miners who work with the mercury amalgam, a mixture of equal parts mercury and gold, and roast it. To create a mercury and gold amalgam, liquid mercury is poured into a mixture of very fine sediment containing gold flakes which the mercury will bond to. This leaves behind a mixture of solely gold and mercury. Roasting is the process of heating the mercury, usually done over an open flame, until it evaporates which leaves behind pure gold. Other than the miners, people who eat fish or other water species from the rivers are also affected. In water, mercury converts to methyl-mercury which moves up the food chain from algae to fish affecting all marine species. In May of 2006, former president Ollanta Humala declared a state of emergency in Madre de Dios due to dangerously high levels of mercury in the soil, rivers, and marine life. It was estimated that around 50,000 people or 40% of the population of Madre de Dios had been affected by mercury poising[9].

To combat the increasing amount of deforestation dangerous levels of mercury, the Peruvian government has implemented a few strategies. Initially, the government banned mining in Madre de Dios outside of a 500,000-hectacre corridor and mandated that all mines be registered in February of 2012[10]. The registration forced safer mining practices for both the miners and the environment, but the negative effects are still seen throughout the region. The government has also started to send military personal to areas of illegal mining to destroy dredges and other equipment used in the extraction process[11]. With this police tactic the Peruvian government had hoped to instill fear in mining operations outside of the legal mining area and mines without the proper registration. Fear seems to be the better form of regulation since any laws are very difficult, if not impossible, to enforce due to how remote a majority of the mines are and the lack of a police or government presence.

Small-scale, be it legal or illegal, mining is the livelihood of many Peruvians. However, the miners do not realize the devastation they leave behind in the environment and the health risks it comes with. After the miners move on, they leave behind a desolate wasteland. In many areas, the rainforest is not able to reclaim the deforested area and without any nutrients in the soil it is useless for farming[12]. It is even useless to farming due to the lack of nutrients in the soil. This leaves old mine sites an empty patch of land with no trees or value. There needs to be a way for small-scale mine to exist without destroying the precious rainforest. Which could be through structural changes like banning the sale of mercury or enforcing a law where miners need to replant trees after mining. But, real change will come cultural changes of respecting the rainforest and having other opportunities to make money that don’t destroy the rainforest.

 

[1]Gonzalez, David. “Opportunities, Not Oppression, to Stop Illegal Mining in the Peruvian Amazon.” YaleGlobal Online, 18 Feb. 2016, yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/opportunities-not-oppression-stop-illegal-mining-peruvian-amazon.

[2]Low, Peter. “Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining in Peru: A Blessing or a Curse?” Peru Support Group, Sept. 2012, www.perusupportgroup.org.uk/files/fckUserFiles/file/Artisanal%20and%20Small-scale%20Gold%20Mining%20in%20Peru.pdf.

[3]Gonzalez, David. “Opportunities, Not Oppression, to Stop Illegal Mining in the Peruvian Amazon.” YaleGlobal Online, 18 Feb. 2016, yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/opportunities-not-oppression-stop-illegal-mining-peruvian-amazon.

[4]Tegel, Simeon. “New Kind of Map Shows Why Peru’s Rain Forests Are Critical.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 5 Aug. 2014, www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/new-kind-map-shows-why-perus-rain-forests-are-critical-n172886.

[5]“Effects of Deforestation.” Pachamama Alliance, www.pachamama.org/effects-of-deforestation.

[6]“The Path of Mining.” Rainforest Foundation US, www.rainforestfoundation.org/mining/.

[7]Low, Peter. “Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining in Peru: A Blessing or a Curse?” Peru Support Group, Sept. 2012, www.perusupportgroup.org.uk/files/fckUserFiles/file/Artisanal%20and%20Small-scale%20Gold%20Mining%20in%20Peru.pdf.

[8]Moher, Paleah. “Health and Artisanal Gold Mining.” Artisanal Gold Council, www.artisanalgold.org/publications/articles/health-and-artisanal-gold-mining/.

[9]Jamasmie, Cecilia. “State of Emergency in Peru over Mercury Poisoning from Illegal Gold Mining.” MINING.com, 24 May 2016, www.mining.com/state-of-emergency-in-peru-over-mercury-poisoning-from-illegal-gold-mining/.

[10]Gardner, Elie. “Peru Battles the Golden Curse of Madre De Dios.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 20 June 2012, www.nature.com/news/peru-battles-the-golden-curse-of-madre-de-dios-1.10857.

[11]Low, Peter. “Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining in Peru: A Blessing or a Curse?” Peru Support Group, Sept. 2012, www.perusupportgroup.org.uk/files/fckUserFiles/file/Artisanal%20and%20Small-scale%20Gold%20Mining%20in%20Peru.pdf

[12]“Effects of Deforestation.” Pachamama Alliance, www.pachamama.org/effects-of-deforestation.