Tech officials attribute their success with the highly competitive grant process to the fact that both campuses have experience and demonstrated interest in the environmental aspects of mining. But it also was getting in the way of good luck and being ready. In Puno, gold and tin mining has polluted the surrounding area much like Butte in its copper mining heyday. Peruvian miners still use mercury to recover gold near the headwaters of rivers leading to Lake Titicaca, which has elevated mercury levels. It s like the technology of the gold mines here in Butte in the 1880s, Brower said.
Researchers know some areas are polluted, but the extent has yet to be determined.
The challenge, the Tech professors say, is to help the Peruvians avoid some of the damage already experienced in the United States. In Third World countries, they have a lot of mining with very little regulation. But we have a chance to go in and make recommendations that could make a difference. The nine Tech professors involved in the project will travel to Peru each spring for research. Each fall, a Tech professor also will give a short course at the Puno university on issues such as mine ventilation or the use of global positioning systems.