Mining

   Gold mining of surface deposits began in the Amazon region

as early as the 16th century in the more easily accessible

locations near the coasts and major rivers.  However,

difficulties resulting from location, climate, and political

instability kept the region from full exploration of its

resources until recently.  In the late 1970s, gold was discovered

along the Brazilian border with Venezuela.  This sparked off the

largest single gold rush in history, which is still going on

today.

     The richest deposits of gold bearing rock are in the area

called the Guiana Shield, a huge belt of greenstone beginning in

Venezuela and extending eastward through parts of Guyana,

Suriname, French Guiana, and south into Brazil and the Amazon

heartland.  The shield covers a total area of 415,000 square

kilometers of jungle and savanna.  This shield is half of the

corresponding gold rich area in Africa; in fact, the two were

once formed a single outcropping when the two continents were

connected roughly 115 million years ago.  The outcropping in

Africa is largely responsible for the gold and platinum wealth of

South Africa and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa.