Pitinga River
Rio Pitinga (Portuguese)
Pitinga River is located in Brazil
Pitinga River
Location
CountryBrazil
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationAmazonas state
Mouth 
 • location
Balbina Dam
 • coordinates
1°06′35″S 59°36′20″W / 1.109841°S 59.605659°W / -1.109841; -59.605659
Basin features
River systemUatumã River

The Pitinga River (Portuguese: Rio Pitinga) is a river of Amazonas state in north-western Brazil. It empties into the Balbina Dam on the Uatumã River.

Mining operation

In the 1970s the Amazon Radar Project detected deposits of cassiterite (tin ore) on the Waimiri Atroari Indigenous Reservation.[1] Prospectors of Mineração Taboca, a subsidiary of the Paranapanema heavy civil construction company, found traces of cassiterite in 1979 in tributaries of the Pitinga River.[2] The Pitinga mine began operations in 1982.[2] The company built a community in the Amazon forest 300 kilometres (190 mi) from Manaus with housing, schools, health facilities, power and telecommunications.[2] In 1985 Paranapanema invested US$15 million in infrastructure upgrades, including a 10,000 kilowatt hydroelectric power plant on the Pitinga River, expected to reduce energy costs by US$4 million annually.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Waimiri Atroari: Contact Situation – ISA.
  2. 1 2 3 The Company - History: Mineração Taboca.
  3. ↑ Smale-Adams 1986, p. 260.

Sources

  • Smale-Adams, K. B. (1986), Mining Latin America / Minería Latinoamericana, Springer Science & Business Media, ISBN 978-94-017-2286-5, retrieved 2016-07-30
  • The Company - History, Mineração Taboca, retrieved 2016-07-29
  • Waimiri Atroari: Contact Situation, ISA: Instituto Socioambiental, retrieved 2016-07-29
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