Yanacocha Mine, Peru

Peru is also famous for its variety of gold mines, the most famous of which is the Yanacocha mine. It is located in the northern part of the state and is the largest gold deposit in Latin America, with annual production of about 1460000 ounces. The owner of the mine is the Newmont Mining company. There is a valuable deposit in the highlands of the Andes, its development began in 1993.

Currently, precious metal is mined in three open quarries, and the total area of the industrial district is 10 x 4 km. According to rough estimates, the investments in the development of the gold mine amounted to about 150 million US dollars. Since the opening of the mine, its development has caused a lot of controversy among local residents and activists.

In the opinion of the indigenous population, the use of cyanides in the development of the field has already led to irreversible environmental consequences. In the immediate vicinity of the industrial zone there are several rivers, which until recently have been crystal clear and valued by the indigenous population for the abundance of fish. Some time after the opening of the industrial zone, local residents noticed that frogs disappeared from the banks of the rivers, and in the course of time the number of fish decreased significantly. According to local residents, the ecological situation in the region is rapidly deteriorating, cases of mass cattle diseases have been repeatedly recorded in recent years, and medicinal plants have practically completely disappeared in the mountainous areas of the Andes. Next - Cortez Gold Mine