LIVES IN EXCHANGE FOR GOLD
Mining company Yanacocha runs a massive open-cast gold mine in Cajamarca Province in the Peruvian Andes.
The extraction of more than 500,000 metric tons of rocks per day from the headwaters of the Rejo, Llaucano
and Cajamarquino rivers causes major harm to the mountains, and also to the lakes, rivers and aquifers
that supply drinking water to the region’s towns and villages.
The large-scale use of cyanide to leach gold out of the ore has led to serious contamination of water courses.
As a consequence, the inhabitants of the Cajamarca region suffer serious health problems; children have been
particulaly impacted. Yanacocha’s mine has destroyed an area of 26,000 hectares and aims to expand by a further
25,000 hectares, despite the vehement opposition of the local population.
Texts: Marisancho Menjón y Marco Arana
Photography: Malú Cabellos, Jonas Lambrigger y Ruth Fremson/NY Times
