Serra Pelada gold mine
A hill in south-east Pará, Brazil, where a gold find in 1979 drew tens of thousands of diggers into one hand-dug open pit; at its 1984 peak some 80,000 people lived around it. Closed in 1992, the pit is now a lake.
Dated events and their evidence
- 1979 CE mainstream
according to local tradition, in December a cowhand finds alluvial gold in the Grota Rica stream on the Três Barras farm source - 1980 CE mainstream
a gold rush; in March the state company DOCEGEO becomes the only buyer of the gold, and the military government puts Major Sebastião Curió in charge as Federal Comptroller source - 1983 CE mainstream
the mine's most productive year, with an official 17 tonnes of gold source - 1984 CE mainstream
the population around the mine peaks at about 80,000, while output falls to 3.9 tonnes and the hand-dug pit reaches 200 metres deep source - 1986 CE mainstream
Sebastião Salgado spends four weeks at the mine, photographing it in black and white for his series Workers source - 1992 CE mainstream
President Collor has the mine closed, citing deadly landslides; the pit soon fills with water source
Where
5.9442° S, 49.6647° W
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serra_Pelada
- https://doi.org/10.2113/gscanmin.40.5.1451
- https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-11247-0_7
- https://doi.org/10.20873/uft.2447-4266.2020v6n5a8en
- https://ozgeology.com/blogs/news/the-largest-surviving-gold-nugget-in-existence
Each event carries Aion's own evidence grade (mainstream, disputed or speculative). This page repeats what the globe shows for this place.