This gaping cavity is one of thousands being gouged today in the state of Madre de Dios at the base of the Andes-a region that is among the most biodiverse and, until recently, pristine environments in the world.
The chain saw crews also set fires, making way for more pits. Red macaws and brilliant-feathered toucans take off, heading deeper into the rainforest.
Another hose suctions the gold-fleck-laced soil torn loose by the water cannon.Īt first light, workers hefting huge Stihl chain saws roar into action, cutting down trees that may be 1,200 years old. The engine also drives an industrial vacuum pump. A man holding a flexible ribbed-plastic hose aims the water jet at the walls, tearing away chunks of earth and enlarging the pit every minute until it’s now about the size of six football fields laid side by side. In the pit a minivan-size gasoline engine, set on a wooden cargo pallet, powers a pump, which siphons water from a nearby river. Standing waist-deep in muddy water, they chew coca leaves to stave off exhaustion and hunger. Gold miners, operating illegally, have worked in this chasm since 11 a.m. It’s a few hours before dawn in the Peruvian rainforest, and five bare light bulbs hang from a wire above a 40-foot-deep pit.
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