Hundreds of illegal miners' boats sailed down the Madeira River in the Brazilian Amazon on Friday, and raised an alert in environmental organizations that say they pose a threat of contamination due to the use of toxic mercury.
Brazilian Vice President Hamilton Mourão announced an imminent police operation in the area, prompting the miners to leave at dawn and head to other areas.
The vessels were spotted in the municipality of Autazes, 70 miles (about 120 kilometers) from Manaus, the capital of the state of Amazonas.
Illegal miners' boats on the Madeira River, in Brazil, on November 25, 2021.Edmar Barros / AP
It is common to see groups of motorboats in the rivers of the region, but the agglomeration this week attracted international attention when Greenpeace and various media published several images.
Miner Thiago Bitencourt Gomes, who was wearing only a pair of shorts and flip flops, told The Associated Press that some 3,000 people, aboard 400 vessels, gathered in the area after a miner found gold and alerted others.
“Here everyone knows each other.
We are all friends, we are all relatives, ”said the 28-year-old whose father, uncles, aunts and cousins were also part of the contingent.
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The rafts have wooden walls and some are equipped with satellite internet and air conditioning units.
In the images you can see how they formed long lines along the muddy Madeira River, a large tributary that flows into the Amazon.
The miners and their families live, eat and work on the boats, some even bringing their dogs and other pets.
“We know that, according to the law, we are illegal. But we must support our families,
”Gomes said, adding that miners had repeatedly asked politicians to legalize their activity, but that has not happened.
A miner handled mercury in Nova Olinda, Brazil, this November 26.
Edmar Barros / AP
Another miner said that, in 40 hours of work,
a boat can collect around 60 grams of gold, with an approximate value of $ 3,500 if it is pure.
Workers often take turns working 24 hours a day.
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Environmentalists are alarmed because the miners use mercury to separate the gold from the sediment they suck from the river bed, this process emits toxic fumes and leaves residues.
According to Paulo Basta, a researcher at the government scientific center Fiocruz, mercury contaminates fish, shrimp, turtles and other marine species within a radius of up to 300 miles.
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Mining has become a sensitive topic, especially since President Jair Bolsonaro took office in January 2019 and promised to expand development in the Amazon region by
legalizing some mining operations.
Those activities drive deforestation that began to increase since 2014 and has accelerated with Bolsonaro, whose father worked as a miner.
With information from The Associated Press
