In Southern Venezuela, between the border of Brazil and Canaima National Park (a Unesco World Heritage Site), there is a large illegal mining region (Santa Elena de Uairén mining region) that encompasses the area between the Icabarú River and the headwaters of the Caroní River.  Within this region, we will see the detail of the Campo Alegre – Apoipó mines.

The yellow line shows the limit of Canaima National Park, which coincide with the course of the Caroní River. The purple line shows the limit of the mining region, and within the red lines highlight the Campo Alegre – Apoipó mines.

A vertical line moves back and forth, right to left, contrasting the year 2000 when there were no mines with December 2019 in which 5 mines are visible – 375 hectares of devastation. The two largest mines are inside Canaima National Park (World Heritage Site) where mining is ILLEGAL. These mines appeared and have expanded dramatically under the Chávez-Maduro Regimes.