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Police detained three people suspected of illegal gold mining |
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 By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The border police of the Crucitas area of Cutris, San Carlos* detained three men who were transporting sediment taken from the old mine in a Ford truck. They apparently intended to extract the gold. The police report says that the suspects had removed the vegetation and excavated the top layer of soil that covers the mineral deposit. They later excavated the mineral bearing layer of soil with machinery or explosives, extracting the material that contained gold. The police confiscated the sediment and the vehicle, and sent the three suspects to flagrancy court so that the pre-trial measures could be determined by a judge. ‘In flagrante delicto’ or sometimes simply in flagrante is a legal term used to indicate that a criminal has been caught in the act of committing an offence The colloquial "caught red-handed" or "caught rapid" are English equivalents. The names of the suspects were not identified in the police report. Arrests of illegal miners in the area of the former Crusitas mine are frequent. On December 31, 7 illegal miners were arrested. In that case, border police officers reported that they arrested seven people in the same area. The police report states that they found the suspects with tools apparently used for gold extraction and nine machetes. Since May 2018, the police have arrested more than 500 people in that area. Last month, the Costa Rican Federation for the Conservation of the Environment filed a complaint at the Ministry of Health due to possible mercury contamination in the gold extraction area in Crucitas, and asked the authorities to hold the land owners responsible for the cost of repairing the area’s environmental damage. The organization’s complaint stated that 173,873 m3 of saprolitic material has been extracted (mainly earth and sand). "This means that about 0.5 percent of the total volume of material that Industrias Infinito said it would extract, according to its Environmental Impact Study, has been extracted.” The organization added that the impact of the activity of illegal miners (known as coligalleros) has caused mercury contamination of surface waters, possibly contaminating the surroundings of Finca Ninvoyet*, in Crucitas, San Carlos. The World Health Organization classifies mercury as a highly toxic substance that poses special public health problems. Mercury is highly toxic to people and it can accumulate in aquatic organisms and pass to humans when they consume contaminated fish. Ecologists say that illegal mining in Crucitas represents a danger to miners, their families, neighboring communities and life in general. |
 Border police courtesy photo The three men were transporting sediment taken from the old mine in a Ford truck. In the environment, mercury emitted by illegal mining accumulates mainly in the form of inorganic mercury compounds such as mercury nitrate. Mining specialists report that extracting a gram of gold requires at least 14 grams of mercury. Mercury nitrate is produced in the chemical separation of the amalgam and deposited in the sediments of rivers and soils, where, by bacterial action and under certain conditions, it can be converted into the far more toxic organic mercury compounds, especially methyl-mercury. On Monday former president Óscar Arias appeared before the Prosecutor's Office of the Public Minister, to declare his innocence in the preliminary hearing on the controversial and complex Infinito Gold criminal case. The Public Ministry alleges that Arias is suspected of corruption for signing the 2008 Decree of National Convenience that allowed the Canadian company Infinito Gold Mining to explore for the mineral in Crucitas in Cutris, San Carlos. In 2010 the Contentious Court annulled the decree, which allowed accusations to be opened. Former environment minister Roberto Dobles and six key officials of the Environmental Ministry have also been accused in the case. Dobles declared his innocence after a preliminary hearing on January 17th. After the government annulled the concession, Infinito Gold opened a claim for $321million in compensation before the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes of the World Bank under the Canadian-Costa Rican trade agreement. ---- Should the government pay the reimbursement requested by Canadian company? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to: news@amcostarica.com *Reach the place on google maps. |
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