The Serranía de San Lucas is a forested massif in the Bolívar Department of northern

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

that reaches heights of 2,600m above sea level. It is part of the Magdalena-Urabá

moist forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discont ...

s ecoregion, with a

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

ecology that includes large monkey and bird populations. It is a 'forest reserve' that has been recommended for protection, but has been opened to mining by the Colombian government, as the mountains have large deposits of

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 ...

emeralds Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr. and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991) ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York, p. ...

nickel Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow to ...

and

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 ...

. AngloGold Ashanti has been exploring in the area since 2004, causing tensions with local small-scale miners. The ELN guerrilla group enforced forest protection in the area in the early 2000s, apparently to protect local hydrology. The area is still subject to fighting between drug cartels, FARC, ELN, the Black Eagles and the Colombian army.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Serrania de San Lucas Mountain ranges of Colombia Geography of Bolívar Department