The Potaro River is a river in

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

that runs from

Mount Ayanganna Mount Ayanganna is a sandstone tepui in the Pakaraima Mountains of western Guyana, and located east of Mount Roraima. With a height of it is the easternmost tepui taller than . It is part of the Guiana Shield and Guyana Highlands. Ecology Th ...

area of the

Pakaraima Mountains The Pacaraima or Pakaraima Mountains ( pt, Serra de Pacaraima, es, Sierra de Pacaraima) are a mountain range primarily in southwestern Guyana, and into northern Brazil and eastern Venezuela. Geography The range extends from west to east for over ...

for approximately before flowing into the

Essequibo River The Essequibo River (Spanish: ''Río Esequibo'' originally called by Alonso de Ojeda ''Río Dulce'') is the largest river in Guyana, and the largest river between the Orinoco and Amazon. Rising in the Acarai Mountains near the Brazil–Guyana bor ...

, Guyana's largest river. The renowned

Kaieteur Falls Kaieteur is the world's largest single drop waterfall. Located on the Potaro River in the Kaieteur National Park, it sits in a section of the Amazon rainforest included in the Potaro-Siparuni region of Guyana. It is 226 metres (741 ft) ...

is on the Potaro.

Features

Nine waterfalls are found on the Potaro River, most notable being Kaieteur Falls and Tumatumari Falls. Below Kaieteur Falls lie Amatuk Falls and Waratuk Falls. A 1930

Suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...

, the Garraway Stream Bridge crosses the river. As well, 'Two Islands' is found on the Potaro River.

Minerals

Placer

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

and

diamonds Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, b ...

are extracted from the river in this mineral-rich area. Many thousands of ounces of placer gold have been recovered from the area's stream gravels, residual placers and saprolites. In the first half of the 20th century, small-scale artisanal miners, known as

pork-knocker Pork-knockers are freelance Guyana, Guyanese prospectors who mine for diamonds and gold in the alluvial plains of the Guyanese interior. Pork-knockers have been responsible for discovering large deposits of gold and diamonds. The name "pork-knocke ...

s, recovered significant quantities of gem-quality diamonds from the area's rivers and streams. In fact, the two largest gem-quality diamonds recovered in Guyana to date – 56.75 carats (11.35 g) from Little Uewang River and 25.67 carats (5.134 g) from Maple Creek – were recovered in the Potaro area. Illegal dredging is a constant issue, and the remoteness makes monitoring difficult. The mineral Potarite is named for the river where it was first discovered by Sir John B. Harrison.

Settlements

Villages along the Potaro include Micobie, Tumatumari, Chenapau (south of Kaieteur Falls), and

Menzies Landing Menzies is a Scottish surname, with Gaelic forms being Méinnearach and Méinn, and other variant forms being Menigees, Mennes, Mengzes, Menzeys, Mengies, and Minges. Derivation and history The name and its Gaelic form are probably derived f ...

, a 20-minute walk upriver from Kaieteur Falls, is the main staging area for up river travel. Up river from the falls, the Potaro Plateau stretches out to the distant escarpment of the

. In the mid-1950s, the first hydropower plant was built at the Tumatumari falls by British Guiana Consolidated Goldfields Limited. Its purpose was to power the dredges of their gold mining operations, however a prolonged workers' strike led to closure. In 1976 the

Guyana National Service The Guyana National Service was a public service organization, including a paramilitary element, formed in Guyana in 1971 and disbanded in 2000, amidst some controversy. Function The service was created following recommendations by United Nation ...

put one of the turbines to use for supplying power to its administrative centre until 1987.

Potaro Landing

The Potaro River is navigable up to Potaro Landing. Further upstream, rapids and waterfalls make travel by boat impossible. In 1933, the

Denham Suspension Bridge The Denham Suspension Bridge, also known as the Garraway Stream Bridge is a footbridge in Guyana linking Mahdia to Bartica. This suspension bridge was constructed over the Potaro River in an area known as Garraway Stream by a Scottish civil engine ...

opened near Potaro Landing to shorten the access to the gold fields of the interior. There was a daily steamer service from Tumatumari Landing to Potaro Landing to transport passenger and freight to the interior. The population of Potaro Landing and surrounding area was 112 people in 2012. Potaro Landing is located at

References

{{Coord, 5, 21, 48, N, 58, 54, 24, W, region:GY-PT_type:waterbody_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Rivers of Guyana Essequibo River

Features

Minerals

Settlements

Potaro Landing

See also

References