Mining Showdown in Andes Over Unique Páramo Lands

The two proposed mining projects near Santurbán have generated enormous controversy, as both almost certainly would use a cyanide-leaching process to extract gold, which could contaminate water supplies as they flow down from the Santurbán páramo. Both the Eco Oro and AUX projects are located less than a mile west and downhill from the páramo. Ecologists fear that chemicals and tailings from the mine could pollute the Angostura River and underground aquifers, and that the impacts of mining in the remote area would inevitably spill over into the Santurbán protected area. 
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/mining_showdown_in_andes_over_unique_paramo_lands/2759/