Still, mining by hand was dangerous and exposed the garimpeiros to mercury. In 1992, after many workers were killed by landslides, the mine was closed. The village remained and drifted into a state of poverty and nostalgia, although even today a few garimpeiros continue to mine by hand nearby.
As the years passed, logging and other forms of deforestation took their toll on this part of ParĂ¡ state, on the eastern edge of the Amazon. The jungle around Serra Pelada, once passable only by small plane or a miles-long hike through dense forest, was replaced with bare hills, stripped of all but the lowest vegetation. The mine itself was flooded to prevent further exploration and is now a muddy lake.
But gold remained buried there, far beyond the keen hands of the garimpeiros. Geological surveys showed there could still be 20 to 50 tons of gold. The original mine is believed to have contained 360 tons.
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