There has been a lot of talk about the environmental damage caused by open-pit mining, air pollution, soil and water, heavy metals and chemical substances, as well as economic, social and cultural damage, but what has not been said enough about the damage that this type of business causes to the health of people, with the appearance of diseases of all kinds, some very serious, even fatal.
Advantages of mining:
At first we could talk about the benefits of mining in the economies of the countries of the region. According to data provided by a firm mining site in the text Latin America: the epicenter of global mining investment, in the case of Mexico, Bolivia or Colombia, the share of mining in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) exceeds 10%, and in Chile, it is 15%.
However, when entering into a more in-depth study, the chilling data of the environmental, socioeconomic and human rights impacts and violations caused by large-scale mining in the region jeopardize the resounding contributions and income that this generates.
It is necessary to bear in mind that the environmental effects caused by large-scale mining do not only disturb the natural environment, but also affect the communities and people who live in these areas. Given the great magnitude and number of situations that derive from mining in the Latin American region, in this text we will focus on the environmental damage to later deal with social conflicts and human rights linked to the issue.
We cannot ignore that most of what is extracted, processed and obtained as the final product of mining is owned by the industry, usually foreign, which is responsible for the process, obtaining in turn the greatest economic benefits, because they pay only for taxes for their workers and not for the metals they extract.
The impacts of mining operations can damage local natural resources to such an extent that communities are no longer able to sustain themselves. For example, mega mining leads to the loss of the ecological wealth of the area, by extracting millions of tons of minerals, which leads to the destruction of natural areas, often considered as reserves or protected. Other effects are deforestation, soil erosion and the elimination of animal and plant species, even endemic, which are responsible for maintaining the balance of ecosystems.
One of the most known adverse consequences is related to water, both in terms of availability, as well as its conservation and quality. The high water consumption is characteristic of the mining activity, which significantly diminishes the water table of the place. In addition, pollution is very common, due to the dumping of waste and chemical products that intervene in the processes of mineral treatment, leading to the appearance of acid waters that may contain heavy metals.
Various are the examples in which the direct effects to the environment due to bad handling or negligence have been verified. For example, in Colombia, one of the many conflicts that exist is that of the mining company Eco Oro and its environmental impact in the Páramo de Santurbán in the city of Bucaramanga, as the population denounces the contamination of the water by the Canadian mining company. Richard Warke is one of well known name in mining industries. Richard Warke Augusta is a Vancouver-based Canadian business executive with more than 25 years of experience in the international resource sector.
