Serra Pelada
Encyclopedia
Serra Pelada was a large gold mine
in Brazil 430 kilometres (267.2 mi) south of the mouth of the Amazon River
. The mine was made famous by the images taken by Sebastião Salgado
showing an anthill of workers moving vast amounts of ore
by hand. Because of the chaotic nature of the operation estimating the number of miners was difficult, but at least 100,000 people were thought to be present, making it one of the largest mines in the world. Today the Serra Pelada mine is abandoned and the giant open pit that was created by hand has filled with water, creating a small polluted lake.
had started with thousands of people descending on the farm to mine. Five weeks later, there were 10,000 on Ferreira's property and another 12,000 nearby. Huge nuggets were quickly discovered, the biggest weighing nearly 6.8 kilograms (15 lb), $108,000 at the 1980 market price. ($108,000US is now $ in )
At first the only way to get to the remote site was by plane or foot. Miners would often pay exorbitant prices to have taxis drive them from the nearest town to the end of a dirt track; from there, they would walk the remaining distance—some 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) to the site. The growing town, since it could only be made of material that was carried in by hand, was a collection of haphazard shacks and tents. Each miner had a claim 2 metres (6.6 ft) by 3 metres (9.8 ft). By May 1980 there were 4000 such claims.
While the military government banned women and alcohol at the actual mine, the nearby town became a town of "stores and whores". Thousands of underage girls prostituted themselves for gold flakes while around 60-80 unsolved murders occurred in the town every month.
in the gold extraction process large areas around the mine are considered dangerously contaminated. People eating fish downstream from the mine have elevated mercury levels.
Gold mining
Gold mining is the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques and processes by which gold may be extracted from the earth.-History:...
in Brazil 430 kilometres (267.2 mi) south of the mouth of the Amazon River
Amazon River
The Amazon of South America is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined...
. The mine was made famous by the images taken by Sebastião Salgado
Sebastião Salgado
Sebastião Salgado is a Brazilian social documentary photographer and photojournalist.-Biography:Salgado was born on February 8, 1944 in Aimorés, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. After a somewhat itinerant childhood, Salgado initially trained as an economist, earning a master’s degree in...
showing an anthill of workers moving vast amounts of ore
Ore
An ore is a type of rock that contains minerals with important elements including metals. The ores are extracted through mining; these are then refined to extract the valuable element....
by hand. Because of the chaotic nature of the operation estimating the number of miners was difficult, but at least 100,000 people were thought to be present, making it one of the largest mines in the world. Today the Serra Pelada mine is abandoned and the giant open pit that was created by hand has filled with water, creating a small polluted lake.
Discovery
In January 1979 Farmer Genésio Ferreira da Silva hired a geologist to investigate whether gold he found on his property was part of a larger deposit. A local child swimming on the banks of a local river found a 6 gram (0.211643772630672 oz) nugget of gold. Soon word leaked out that indeed da Silva was sitting upon one of the largest deposits in the world. By the end of the week a gold rushGold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
had started with thousands of people descending on the farm to mine. Five weeks later, there were 10,000 on Ferreira's property and another 12,000 nearby. Huge nuggets were quickly discovered, the biggest weighing nearly 6.8 kilograms (15 lb), $108,000 at the 1980 market price. ($108,000US is now $ in )
At first the only way to get to the remote site was by plane or foot. Miners would often pay exorbitant prices to have taxis drive them from the nearest town to the end of a dirt track; from there, they would walk the remaining distance—some 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) to the site. The growing town, since it could only be made of material that was carried in by hand, was a collection of haphazard shacks and tents. Each miner had a claim 2 metres (6.6 ft) by 3 metres (9.8 ft). By May 1980 there were 4000 such claims.
Military conflict
Early in the history of the mine, the Brazilian military took over operations to prevent exploitation of the workers and conflict between miners and owners. Before the military takeover basic goods were sold for hugely inflated prices by the mine owners; water cost $3 a litre ($ in ). The infamous Sebastiao Rodrigues de Moura (known more by his nickname Coronel Curio) managed the mine for a brief period.While the military government banned women and alcohol at the actual mine, the nearby town became a town of "stores and whores". Thousands of underage girls prostituted themselves for gold flakes while around 60-80 unsolved murders occurred in the town every month.
Environmental damage
Because of the use of mercuryMercury (element)
Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum...
in the gold extraction process large areas around the mine are considered dangerously contaminated. People eating fish downstream from the mine have elevated mercury levels.
In popular media
, Brazilian comedy about miners trying to strike it rich at the Serra Pelada mine.- PowaqqatsiPowaqqatsiPowaqqatsi , or Powaqqatsi: Life in Transformation, is the 1988 sequel to the experimental 1982 documentary film Koyaanisqatsi, by Godfrey Reggio. It is the second film in the Qatsi trilogy....
, a 1988 documentary film