Pitinga River
River in Brazil
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
| Pitinga River | |
|---|---|
  | |
| Location | |
| Country | Brazil |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Amazonas state |
| Mouth | |
• location | Balbina Dam |
• coordinates | 1.109841°S 59.605659°W |
| Basin features | |
| River system | Uatumã River |
Mining operation
In the 1970s the vast Amazon rainforest was being mapped through the Amazon Radar Project, a large-scale effort to chart remote landscapes. A mong its most significant findings was the detection of cassiterite (tin ore) located near the Waimiri Atroari Indigenous Reservation.[1]
By 1979, geologists from Mineração Taboca, then a subsidiary of the Paranapanema heavy civil construction company, found traces of cassiterite in 1979 in tributaries of the Pitinga River.[2]
What began as small- scale exploration quickly expanded into an industrial-scale project, reshaping the region’s social and environmental landscape. 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]