Desperate and hungry, thousands of Venezuelans risk life in mafia-infested illegal mining

“We are certain that the Orinoco Arc is an open-pit homicide against the environment,” affirmed Valentin Guimares, 26, who noted that open-pit mining uses between 450 and 1060 liters of water per gram of gold extracted.

Gold mining also uses a large amount of land and pollutes water with cyanide and mercury, harming species of wildlife such as dolphins, manatees, crocodiles and countless species of birds and fish.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/03/22/desperate-and-hungry-thousands-venezuelans-risk-life-in-mafia-infested-illegal-mining.html