Pitinga River

Pitinga River (Brazil)
Country Brazil
Basin
Main source Amazonas state
River mouth Balbina Dam
1°06′35″S 59°36′20″W / 1.109841°S 59.605659°W / -1.109841; -59.605659 (Mouth of Pitinga River)Coordinates: 1°06′35″S 59°36′20″W / 1.109841°S 59.605659°W / -1.109841; -59.605659 (Mouth of Pitinga River)
River system Uatumã 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

Sources

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/19/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.