Commodity Online
HANOI: After the Amazon forests and California river, it is the turn of Vietnam’s rivers to fall prey to the unscrupulous activities of gold miners.

Blatant digging for gold in Vietnam’s mountain regions has left several of this beautiful country’s rivers polluted. Apart from the two major rivers of Thu Bon and Vu Gia, the central province of Quang Nam has hundreds of streams and small rivers which have been polluted by the gold miners.

Reports in newspapers and websites have revealed that there are 14 licenced gold mining companies in Quang Nam at present and hundreds of illegal miners — all seeking gold in the districts of Phuoc Son, Hiep Duc, Dong Giang, Nam Giang and Tay Giang.

Known as the Land of Gold, the local government doesn’t know how much gold is being digged out from this area.

Compared to other sites, Quang Nam is the country’s ‘land of gold,’ especially Phuoc Son district. Reports in local media said a tonne of ore can contain up to 13g of gold at Phuoc Son.

In 1993, geologists estimated gold reserves at the Phuoc Thanh gold mine in Phuoc Son district to be over 14 tonnes, compared to over 7 tonnes at Kim Phuoc and over 9 tonnes at Phuoc Hiep.

A survey at five mountainous districts of Quang Nam in early June 2009 revealed that local rivers are dying because of gold. Mining wastes have turned the Vu Gia river very rough and soiled along its entire length. In the past, this river was blue and had many fish and shrimp. Its water is now red. You can’t see any fish in it now. The water turns red because of waste water discharged from gold sifting in Phuoc Son district.

Throughout the region, all rivers and streams are dug up by machines. Gold mining equipment is seen everywhere. There are two legal gold mining firms in Tay Giang district — Huu Son and Tan Nghia Son, which are searching for gold on the upper reaches of the A Vuong river.

Because of gold mining activities, over 5km of the Tay Vuong river, the section crossing Tay Giang district, has been excavated, leaving huge piles of soil on the banks of the muddy river. Similarly, the Vang river crossing Ba village in Dong Giang district and the Thanh  My river in Nam Giang district are very muddy and polluted.

The Thu Bon River is the largest river in the province Quang Nam and Vietnam’s fourth most important in terms of hydro-power potential. Its source is on Ngoc Linh mountain in Nam Tra My district. From there it runs to the Dai estuary (Cua Dai) in Hoi An city. Water from the river enters the sea near the Cu Lao Cham maritime protected area, a zone that has been proposed to UNESCO for recognition as a ‘world biosphere.’

Even so, the river is being damaged by gold mining. The biggest gold mining site in Quang Nam is located on the upper reaches of the Thu Bon river, with terrible consequences for the river’s once-famous beauty.

In April 2004, Quang Nam’s Environment Protection Bureau tested three water samples from Thu Bon river, which revealed that waste chemicals exceeded the permitted levels from 150 to 400 per cent.

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