Less of a lustre

IN WHAT could be Latin
America's biggest
gold mine Brazil, the
world's sixth
largest goii:1
producer, has 'reported
a
major 150--tonne gold
find worth nearly.
us $2 billion. But this
time, the discovery, announced early
last month,
has raised fears of
another possible
invasion of garimpeiros
or individual
prospectors into
Curionopolis, the
town closest to the
site, bringing alongwith it a string of
social problems. The
gold rush in the'80s
saw nearly 100,000
of these prospectors on
a rampage in
Serra Pelada, which
once housed the
World's largest
open-cast gold mine.

The new, deposit has
been found
-430 rn below the
earth's surface bkthe
state-owned Companhia
Vale do Rio
Doce in Serra Leste, in
the eastern
Amazon basin. Officials
of Curionopolis
have demanded police
reinforcements
and @b 'etter health
facilities to prevent
the dutbreak of several
diseases. The
mine'is, expected to
yield nearly 10
tonnLn,,of gold a year
- about 20,per
cent oi Brazil's
current output.