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<title><![CDATA[amazon mining news from mongabay.com]]></title>
<link>http://www.mongabay.com</link>
<description><![CDATA[amazon mining news.]]></description>
<language>en-us</language>
<copyright>Copyright 2006 mongabay.com</copyright>
<pubDate>Tue, 17 Oct 2006 12:58:39 -0800</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Proposed gold mine proves controversial in French Guiana rainforest]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Commercial gold mining threatens a key forest reserve and wetland in French Guiana say scientists who warn that exploitation could pollute rivers with toxic compounds, threaten wildlife, and put indigenous populations at risk.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1107-french_guiana.html</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 07 Nov 2007 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1107-french_guiana.html</guid>
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<title><![CDATA[Mining gets approval despite recent species discoveries]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Suriname will allow mining in a highly biodiverse tract of forest where 24 previously unknown species were recently discovered.  The decision had been expected.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0613-suriname.html</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 13 Jun 2007 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0613-suriname.html</guid>
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<title><![CDATA[Pictures of newly discovered species in Suriname]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Scientists documented 467 species, including 24 species believed new to science, during a rainforest survey in eastern Suriname, South America. The expedition, led by Conservation International (CI), was sponsored by two mining companies, BHP-Billiton Maatschappij Suriname (BMS) and Suriname Aluminium Company LLC (Suralco), hoping to mine the area for bauxite, the raw material used to make aluminum.  Conservation International said the Rapid Assessment Survey (RAP) will help "give miners guidance on protecting unique plants and animals during potential future development," according to a statement from the organization.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0604-suriname.html</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 04 Jun 2007 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0604-suriname.html</guid>
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<title><![CDATA[Gold Rush Tears Up a Patch of the Amazon]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[It's a gold rush in the Amazon jungle, driven by the Internet. Speeding past unbroken walls of foliage, a motorboat packed with gritty prospectors veers toward the shore of the Juma river and spills its passengers into a city of black plastic lean-tos veiled by greasy smoke. All around them are newly dug pits, felled trees, misery and tales of striking it rich. This is Eldorado do Juma, scene of Brazil's biggest gold rush in more than 20 years.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0203-amazon_mining-AP.html</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 02 Feb 2007 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0203-amazon_mining-AP.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Europe's largest tropical rainforest invaded by gold miners]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[As Europe frets over climate change and deforestation, threats to "Europe's largest tropical rainforest" are mounting, according to reports from French Guiana. While French Guiana is best known for its infamous Devil's Island penal colony and as the main launch site for the European Space Agency, which is responsible for more than 50% of the state's economy activity, most of the territory is covered with lowland tropical rainforest.  French Guiana's forests are biologically rich with some 1,064 known species of amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles, and 5,625 species of vascular plants according to figures from the World Conservation Monitoring Center.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1219-french_guiana.html</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 19 Dec 2006 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1219-french_guiana.html</guid>
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<title><![CDATA[Time is running out for French Guiana's rainforests]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Understanding relationships between plants and animals is key to understanding rainforest ecology.  Dr. Pierre-Michel Forget of the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle in France is a renowned expert on the interdependency between rainforest trees and seed disperses.  Author of dozens of papers on tropical forest ecology, Dr Forget is increasingly concerned about deforestation and biodiversity loss in forests of the Guiana Shield region of Northern South America.  In particular he sees the invasion of informal gold miners, known as garimpeiros, as a significant threat to forests in French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana and Venezuela.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1219-interview_forget.html</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 19 Dec 2006 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1219-interview_forget.html</guid>
</item>
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<title><![CDATA[Mining in Venezuelan Amazon threatens biodiversity, indigenous people]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Troubles are mounting in one of Earth's most beautiful landscapes. Deep in the Venezuelan Amazon, among ancient forested tabletop mountains known as tepuis, crystalline rivers, and breathtaking waterfalls, illegal gold miners are threatening one of world's largest remaining blocks of wilderness, one that is home to indigenous people and strikingly high levels of biological diversity. As the situation worsens -- a series of attacks have counted both miners and indigenous people as victims -- a leading scientific organization has called for the Venezuelan government to take action.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1109-atbc.html</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 09 Nov 2006 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1109-atbc.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Pig iron production fueling Amazon deforestation]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Pig iron production in the states of Para and Maranhao is fueling deforestation a Brazilian newspaper reports.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2005/0921-amigos.html</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 21 Sep 2005 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2005/0921-amigos.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Environmental impact of mining in the rainforest]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Gold, copper, diamonds, and other precious metals and gemstones are important resources that are found in rainforests around the world. Extracting these natural resources is frequently a destructive activity that damages the rainforest ecosystem and causes problems for people living nearby and downstream from mining operations. In the Amazon rainforest most mining today revolves around alluvial gold deposits. Due to the meandering nature of Amazon rivers, gold is found both in river channels and on the floodplains where rivers once ran. These deposits are actively mined by large-scale operators and informal, small-scale miners. Both operators rely heavily on hydraulic mining techniques, blasting away at river banks, clearing floodplain forests, and using heavy machinery to expose potential gold-yielding gravel deposits. Gold is usually extracted from this gravel using a sluice box to separate heavier sediment and mercury for amalgamating the precious metal. While most of the mercury is removed for reuse or burned off, some may end up in rivers. Studies have found that small-scale miners are less efficient with their use of mercury than industrial miners, releasing an estimated 2.91 pounds (1.32 kg) of mercury into waterways for every 2.2 pounds (1 kg) of gold produced. While there is no scientific consensus on mercury contamination in the Amazon, according to biologist Michael Goulding, there is evidence of mercury causing problems in other ecosystems. Elemental or inorganic mercury can be transformed (methylated) into organic forms by biological systems and enter food chains. Not only are methylated mercury compounds toxic, but highly bioaccumulative, meaning that mercury concentrations increase up the food chain. Top predators, including otters, birds of prey, and humans, will have the highest levels of mercury in their systems. Those who eat large amounts of fish are at the greatest risk.]]></description>
<link>http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0808.htm</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 01 Mar 2005 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0808.htm</guid>
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