Peru’s Environment Minister, Antonio Brack, said Friday the Amazon’s Madre de Dios department is losing millions of dollars in royalties each year due to informal mining. The mining is also causing heavy metal contamination in the region’s waterways.
Brack said that calculations by state tax regulator Sunat show that Madre de Dios should have collected about 50 million soles, or $17 million, in mining royalties last year. In 2009, however, its mining royalties were only 42,000 soles, about $14,000, state news agency Andina reported.
Brack added that informal gold mining produces about 32 tons of mercury pollution in the region’s waterways every year, poisoning fish sold in local markets for human consumption. According to the Amazon Conservation Association, Madre de Dios is the most active alluvial gold mining region in Peru. The department produces between 50 to 100 tons of gold annually.
Peru’s government published in the official gazette, El Peruano, on Feb.18 a decree aimed at curbing informal mining in Madre de Dios. The decree’s main points include establishing non-mining zones and promoting environmental recuperation of areas previously damaged by informal mining.
According to Brack, only nine percent of the department will be available for mining and some 18,000 hectares, severely damaged by deforestation from informal mining operations, will be included in a project for environmental recuperation.
