Peru targets Amazon gold rush

Peru targets Amazon gold rush

Eight Peruvian navy personnel jumped from a helicopter into a clearing carved out of the Amazon rainforest by illegal gold miners along the Malinowski River in Peru’s Madre de Dios region, sending sand and dust swirling as they ran towards the mining site. The forest gave way to giant holes gouged into the earth and filled with opaque, muddy water, gasolene and other chemicals glistening on the surface. Makeshift wooden mining platforms straddle…