Lourenço is a town and district in the Brazilian municipality of Calçoene, in the interior of the state of

Amapá Amapá () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is in the northern region of Brazil. It is the second least populous state and the eighteenth largest by area. Located in the far northern part of the country, Amapá is bordered clockwise by Fr ...

. The main economic activities of the town is gold mining. It is one of the oldest mines in Brazil.

History

Gold mining in Lourenço began in the 19th century. In 1894, at the height of the gold rush, there were 6,000 to 10,000 gold miners in the area around the Calçoene River. In 1984, Mineração Novo Astro (MNA) and Mineração Yukio Yoshidome (MYYSA) were awarded concessions for mining on an industrial scale. This resulted in conflicts with the ''

garimpeiros Gold mining is the extraction of gold resources by mining. Historically, mining gold from alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. However, with the expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface ...

'' (illegal gold prospectors). Landslide Gold mine Lourenço Amapá Brazil

In 1992, the Mining Cooperative of Garimpeiros of Lourenço (COOGAL) was founded, and the concessions were transferred to COOGAL in 1994. As of 2014, COOGAL operates five mining concessions and employs 1,100 ''garimpeiros''. The official census figures for the district are an underestimation, and the actual population is estimated at 4,500 people. Lourenço is located in an area surrounded by

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

s and indigenous territories. The region around Lourenço has been polluted with

mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

, and has been

deforested Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...

. The school and clinic are functioning below standard. In 2017, Lourenço received 24 hour electricity. The town is connected to the BR-156 highway via an unpaved road.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lorenco Gold mines in Brazil Populated places in Amapá