'Beaches' from illegal mining scar Colombia's Amazon

'Beaches' from illegal mining scar Colombia's Amazon

December 18, 2015 by Alba Tobella

It's called a "beach", or "playa" in Spanish, but the swath of sand and polluted water in a remote part of the Amazon jungle in Colombia is not a place of leisure by any means.

Instead, it is the detritus from illegal mining, proceeds of which fund armed groups and guerrillas.

Some 100 kilometers (60 miles) from this "beach" in Colombia's rugged eastern Guainia region, close to the town of Campo Alegre, a dredge that had been pumping masses of riverbed sand mixed with gold stood in the Inirida river.

The dredge was destroyed November 26, in a joint Brazilian-Colombian military operation against clandestine mining.

More:
http://phys.org/news/2015-12-beaches-illegal-scar-colombia-amazon.html#jCp

Environment & Energy:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/112795092