For around three months now, miners have rushed to the mountainous district of Phuoc Son in the central province to illegally extract gold.
Miners set up tents and made a pond to pan for gold in a protected forest in Phuoc Son.
People living near the site said two Quang Nam residents had invested in machinery and hired locals to work at the mining site without permission.
Not very far from the gold mine is another operating at a larger scale on top of a hill.
Miners have cut down trees and dug many tunnels into the mountain.
Wastewater from the two gold mines flow into Nuoc Mat Stream in Phuoc Loc Commune.
Commune Chairman Luu Huyen Thoai told VnExpress last week that “authorities are not aware of the situation and will inspect later.”
Le Quang Trung, chairman of Phuoc Son District, said there is no unit or individual that is allowed to extract gold at the two sites.
On Tuesday, the district’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment collaborated with local police to take down camps and seize machinery from miners, but many people are of the idea that the measures are not strong enough as no miners have been arrested and charged.
A representative of the department said illegal gold mining has continued despite frequent crackdowns by local authorities.
The reason is that gold bandits often choose deep forests that are hard for functional forces to approach, facilitating their escape.
