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towns, like La Rinconada at 5,100 m in the Peruvian Cordillera, with a 30,000 mostly
male population, repeating the boom-and-bust pattern of settlement and mining liveli-
hoods that has characterized the modern history of mining in the mountains. Compared
to the level and extent of mining in the Cordillera of the Americas and Appalachia, the
vast reaches of the Hindu Kush-Karakoram-Himalaya have been relatively untouched,
and mining has not constituted as significant a source of economic development and
livelihood as yet. This is changing, with aggressive exploration in southwest China and
increasing numbers of small-scale gemstone mining operations in the Karakoram and
western Himalaya in Pakistan.
People in many mountain communities in mineral-rich areas believe they have been
unjustly exploited and marginalized even within their own regions (Fox 1997). They
have accused mining companies of exploiting common lands, especially at higher eleva-
tions, which also have deep religious significance for local communities. The contamina-
tion of local land and water resources, and air pollution, which endanger the health and
the bases of the livelihoods of local people, are also major concerns. In the United States
and Canada, indigenous people have taken legal action to protect their interests and
lands, forcing mining companies to accommodate themselves to indigenous cultures.
In Bolivia, indigenous people, supported by the national government, have successfully
sought to curtail the activities of foreign companies and to request a more equitable
share of revenues.
FIGURE 10.15 La Oroya smelter, Rio Mantaro Valley, Peru, one of the most polluted sites in the Andes.
(Photo by C. Stadel.)
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