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A wound among the Andes 2014

Date of realization: May 2014

Country: Peru

Cerro de Pasco, a Peruvian city located at an altitude of 4340 m, has a mining activity that has lasted for over 400 years. It is located literally next to an enormous hole in the ground, which is an open-pit mine that with its exhalations and drains determines serious risk to the environment and to the health of the inhabitants, especially kids. There are eleven heavy metals dispersed in air, water and soil, and they enter directly in the food chain. The entire city will have to be moved within two decades, to allow the prosecution of the mining activity.
This twenty-one years old guy lives in Champamarca, in a house in front of the artificial polluted mountain. By the time he lost his speech and became aggressive.
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This twenty-one years old guy lives in Champamarca, in a house in front of the artificial polluted mountain. By the time he lost his speech and became aggressive.
Cerro de Pasco, a city that rises up near a historical peruvian open-pit mine. Every day the polluting fine dusts raising from its hole are spread in the air.
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Cerro de Pasco, a city that rises up near a historical peruvian open-pit mine. Every day the polluting fine dusts raising from its hole are spread in the air.
The quarter of Chaupimarca has been affected by the so-called “Plan L”, an expansion project of the excavations approved in 2008 that within twenty years will destroy the old town with its squares, stores, houses and even the church.
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The quarter of Chaupimarca has been affected by the so-called “Plan L”, an expansion project of the excavations approved in 2008 that within twenty years will destroy the old town with its squares, stores, houses and even the church.
Department of Yurahuanca: pollution of water and soil also affects the animals, which in turn contaminate the people who eat them.
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Department of Yurahuanca: pollution of water and soil also affects the animals, which in turn contaminate the people who eat them.
The Rumiallana landfill is a garbage dump of 50 hectares nestled among the artificial mountains. The area is owned by the mining company.
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The Rumiallana landfill is a garbage dump of 50 hectares nestled among the artificial mountains. The area is owned by the mining company.
A child inside a bus direct to the district Champamarca, one of the most affected by the contamination. Children are the most affected by contamination: the minerals sediment in their bones more easily than in those of adults.
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A child inside a bus direct to the district Champamarca, one of the most affected by the contamination. Children are the most affected by contamination: the minerals sediment in their bones more easily than in those of adults.
Mothers at the school of Paragsha. Almost all of their husbands work in the mine and are developing lung diseases. Their children often have headaches.
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Mothers at the school of Paragsha. Almost all of their husbands work in the mine and are developing lung diseases. Their children often have headaches.
A man walks between two pieces of land belonging to the company Cerro Sac. The area is almost entirely under mining claim. People are forced to leave their homes to allow the progression of the excavations, but do not have sufficient funds to start a new life elsewhere.
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A man walks between two pieces of land belonging to the company Cerro Sac. The area is almost entirely under mining claim. People are forced to leave their homes to allow the progression of the excavations, but do not have sufficient funds to start a new life elsewhere.
Maria Carhuarica is the mother of Thais, a case renowned on a national level for the concentration of lead in the blood. The girl is not able to speak and to eat normally.
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Maria Carhuarica is the mother of Thais, a case renowned on a national level for the concentration of lead in the blood. The girl is not able to speak and to eat normally.
Paragsha school. A study on the children of the quarter of Paragsha showed a concentration of heavy metals in their bodies far above the maximum levels set by WHO
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Paragsha school. A study on the children of the quarter of Paragsha showed a concentration of heavy metals in their bodies far above the maximum levels set by WHO
Wilfredo Perez, Provincial Councillor and teacher, emphasizes the problem of corruption: government funds, earmarked for infrastructures, often do not go to fruition.
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Wilfredo Perez, Provincial Councillor and teacher, emphasizes the problem of corruption: government funds, earmarked for infrastructures, often do not go to fruition.
Boys after school walking in front of a part of the mine. Volcan owns several mining plants. Having to stop the extraction by detonation, now the work is concentrated on the processing of silver pyrites, located in large reserves around the city.
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Boys after school walking in front of a part of the mine. Volcan owns several mining plants. Having to stop the extraction by detonation, now the work is concentrated on the processing of silver pyrites, located in large reserves around the city.
A wound among the Andes 2014
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Chaupimarca District: with the progress of mining excavations, many homes have been destroyed and the inhabitants were forced to move elsewhere.
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Chaupimarca District: with the progress of mining excavations, many homes have been destroyed and the inhabitants were forced to move elsewhere.
A shopkeeper in the streets. Many people moved to Cerro de Pasco from other cities to start their own business: the mine is in fact a source of economy, even indirectly.
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A shopkeeper in the streets. Many people moved to Cerro de Pasco from other cities to start their own business: the mine is in fact a source of economy, even indirectly.
A panoramic view of the "Tajo Raul Rojas", an oval-shaped chasm in the ground that has reached the size of about 132 hectares, with a diameter of almost two kilometers and the depth of over four hundred meters.
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A panoramic view of the "Tajo Raul Rojas", an oval-shaped chasm in the ground that has reached the size of about 132 hectares, with a diameter of almost two kilometers and the depth of over four hundred meters.
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