Mining in Colombia

Mining in Colombia

1. Legal Mining

   • Government defend these companies because they said that with the millions get with mining we will grow as a country
   • It accomplish rules made by the government, usually are big companies that pay millions of dolars for gold
   • Uses less powerfull chemicals for spread gold and they cannot throw anywhere the wastes

2. Illegal Mining

   • They use any chemical to get gold, they don't clean the areas so animal get that chemicals in their bodys and finally in the food chain
   • It does'nt accomplish any security rule for the nature or the people
   • Illegal mining is a way in which bands like "El Clan del Golfo" finaciate their crime operations

3. Chemicals

   • Cyanide is one of the strongest chemical in the world, it is used for convert the rock into dust, this chemical is release in the water while legal or illegal companies mine.
   • Sulfuric Acid is one of the chemical that legal and illegal mining uses to spread the gold from rock and sand this can damage any animal and plant
   • Mercury is one of the chemicals used by illegal mining, legal mining can't use it in colombia because it's prohibited

4. How ground is afected

   • The chemicals used by the legal or illegal mining go to the underground
   • The aquifers get contaminated by these chemicals
   • These water contaminated from the aquifers get to a big river
   • Finally the big river gives water to humans, animals and plants

5. Socio-political implication

   • People near to the places were big companies are mining would get afected by the water source and also the agriculture source.
   • Government is winning lots of money letting companies like anglo gold ashanti to mine in places like cajamarca, also that impulse the growth of the country
   • The department in colombia which got a great numbre of mines is antioquia, then Boyaca and then Cundinamarca
   • National Parks affected by mining are "pisba", "chingaza", "Los Farallones de Cali", "El Nevado del Huila", Etc-

Images and files in the map