Rio Madeira (AP), Brazil — Hundreds of illegal miners dredging gold are sailing along the Madeira River in the Amazon, Brazil, on Friday, and researchers have found that the wider environment is contaminated with toxic mercury. He said it caused a threat.
The barge was discovered this week by the municipality of Autumnes, about 120 km (70 miles) from Manaus, the capital of the State of Amazonas.
Small gatherings of barges are common along rivers in the region, but the latest collection received international attention this week when Greenpeace and the news media released a sequence of images of rafts.
Brazil’s Vice President Hamilton Mourão announced an imminent police operation in the region, urging miners to leave early Friday and head elsewhere along the river.
Miner Chiago Bitencourt Gomez, wearing shorts and flip-flops, told AP on Friday about 400 cliffs after one miner found money and warned others. About 3,000 people) said they had gathered in the area.
“Here, everyone knows each other. We are all friends and we are all related,” said the 28-year-old father, uncle, aunt, and cousin who were also part of the delegation. The person said.
The wide, muddy Madeira River, a large tributary that flows into the vast Amazon downstream of Manaus, was tied to a wooden wall with satellite Internet and air conditioning units to form a row of houses. Miners and their families live, eat and work on barges with dogs and other pets.
“We know by law that we are illegal, but we all need to support our families,” said Gomez, who said miners legalized their activities to politicians. He repeatedly asked to do it, but added that it was useless.
Another miner said the barge had raised about 60 grams of gold (equivalent to about $ 3,500 in the pure case) in 40 hours of work. Workers often took turns working 24 hours a day.
Environmentalists are wary of the fact that miners use mercury to separate gold from sediments sucked from the riverbed, releasing toxic vapors in the process and spilling some into the river.
When Paulo Basta, a researcher at the government’s Fiocrus Science Center, enters the river, it falls to the bottom and enters the food chain, contaminating fish, shrimp, turtles, and other marine life 500 km downstream. Said.
Basta said there was strong evidence of mercury pollution associated with cognitive problems, sensory changes, and high blood pressure, and that miners themselves were at high risk of exposure.
“He picks up mercury or puts it in a bag. It leaks, falls on his feet and he is contaminated through the skin. But the most serious form of contamination is inhaling mercury vapor that enters the lungs. That’s what Basta says.
Miners told AP that they were trying to recover and reuse expensive mercury instead of releasing it into the water.
A federal prosecutor in the State of Amazonas called on Wednesday for federal and state officials to coordinate their response and dismantle the illegal settlement within 30 days.
Federal police responded with a brief statement that they were aware of the situation and were evaluating the options.
Miners told AP on Friday that authorities were not in contact with them. However, fearing surgery, they left Otazes and proceeded along the river. The barges pushed by the powerboats headed in different directions.
Local media reported tensions between miners and residents of Autumns, but field journalists said that many locals sold food, electronics, diesel, clothing, and even perfumes to hundreds. I saw you taking advantage of the arrival of things visitors.
The entire mining industry has been delicate, especially since President Jail Bolsonaro took office in January 2019, vowing to expand development in the Amazon region and legalize some types of currently banned mining operations. It has become a problem.
This is one of several factors driving accelerated deforestation under Bolsonaro, whose father once worked as a mountain cat miner, which began to increase in 2014.
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Diane Giantet reported from Rio de Janeiro.
A large fleet of illegal gold miners splits in Brazil | WGN Radio 720
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