Authorities crack down on illegal gold mining in Huoi Hang (Cam Muon commune, Que Phong district).

(Baonghean)On the evening of April 3, 2013, we followed the provincial police force as they raided illegal gold mining in the Huoi Hang mountain area, located in Huoi May village, Cam Muon commune, Que Phong district, an area plagued by illegal gold mining day and night...

At 5:30 AM on April 4th, we departed from Kim Son town (Que Phong district), traveling 40 km to reach Na Que village (Cam Muon commune). From there, we continued our trek for another 5 hours along Khe Quya stream to reach the Huoi Hang mountain region.

Along the way, at the alluvial gold mining sites in Khe Quya, apart from a few remaining sand-pumping machines and makeshift shelters scattered along the stream, no one was mining. It seemed the illegal gold miners had realized the authorities' plan to crack down. Passing through the villages of Na Noi, Huoi May, etc., we noticed scattered groups of 5-10 people, appearing to be gold miners, at some houses. Upon inquiring, one person said that, having heard about the upcoming provincial crackdown, the ringleaders had disposed of and hidden their gold mining equipment and, along with technicians from other districts and provinces (Thai Nguyen, Nam Dinh, Hai Phong, etc.), had moved out of the area since yesterday. At the gold mining site, mostly local hired laborers were left guarding the shelters. "Why go in there anymore? There's no one left, because they (the dealers, the gold miners from other provinces - PV) have all left, only the locals remain," this person said.

The deeper we went, the more groups of 5-7 people carrying luggage emerged. When asked, some people from the villages of Cam Pom, Cam Ngoc, and Cam Cang (Cam Muon commune) said: "We only came to the mine a few days ago, but we heard the owner say a raiding party was coming, so we had to come back." Along the way, many people were carrying rice, food, drinks, and fuel... heading into the Huoi Hang mountain area. A member of the raiding party, a local resident, said: "Among the people coming and going in the Huoi Hang area, it's very difficult to distinguish between farmers and gold miners. The authorities can't prohibit people from carrying rice, clothes, lamp oil, and blankets into the forest because, in reality, there are hundreds of households farming and raising cattle there." In fact, some people were transporting food for themselves, but many were providing supplies to the gold mining crew. A young man who identified himself as Tham, from Huoi May village, said: "Regardless of what goods are being transported to the dock, they are all hired at a price of 130,000 - 150,000 VND per 10 kg. Therefore, on average, people here, as long as they are healthy, especially women, can earn about 500,000 - 700,000 VND per day..."

At 11:30 AM, we arrived at the gold mining site located on top of a hill covering over 1000 square meters, a rugged area riddled with deep pits and trenches, along with about 50-60 makeshift tents and absolutely no gold mining equipment or machinery. Inside the tents, hundreds of people lay and sat haphazardly, seemingly unsurprised to see dozens of police officers in full uniform entering the site... Approaching a few of the camps to gather information, we learned that the mining here is organized into groups led by ringleaders from Thai Nguyen, Hai Phong, and Vinh City. Each group invests in its own pumps, drills, crushers, generators, and water pipelines... to mine for gold. According to a gold miner named Lo Van Em (from Cam Pom village), the villagers only work carrying soil to the crushing and washing troughs... while the actual work of digging through the rock veins to find gold is done by skilled technicians from Thai Nguyen. Local laborers are paid 150,000 - 200,000 VND per day. Some lucky groups can find about 2-3 taels of gold (92% purity) per day. According to Mr. Em, the gold mine used to be a village farm. Around August 2012, a group of six people from Thai Nguyen came to mine. Later, some villagers discovered the gold and also started mining. The news spread, and by the end of January 2013, many gold dealers from various places flocked to the area, and people from villages in Cam Muon, Quang Phong, Chau Thon, Chau Kim communes, etc., who were unemployed, came to work there.

The task force inspected the gold mining pits.

We've visited many illegal alluvial gold mining sites, but nowhere have we witnessed such a high level of danger as here. The gold mine is riddled with pits about 1.5 meters wide and 16-40 meters deep. From the bottom of these pits, the "gold thieves" have dug numerous deep tunnels to search for gold along the soft rock layers, some tunnels extending for hundreds of meters. As a result, the base of the hill has been hollowed out, clearly evidenced by the numerous large cracks on the surface. When asked if they weren't afraid of collapses and the danger to their lives in these deep tunnels, a relatively young gold miner said: "If there's nothing else to do, we have to go in." How many people are usually at the site? According to him, at peak times there are about 1,000 people at the gold mine; however, knowing that a raiding party was coming, the ringleaders had stopped mining two days beforehand to remove machinery and evacuate. What remained at the site were mostly gold miners and local supply workers who protected the camps and equipment.

According to the initial plan, at 12 PM on April 4th, the task force from Que Phong district would join forces with the task force from Tuong Duong to pursue and dismantle the illegal mining camps, handing over a clean site to the commune and district authorities. However, by 3 PM that same day, the task force from Tuong Duong, led by the provincial task force leader (telephone contact was impossible in this area), had not arrived, so the dismantling and burning of the camps could not proceed. Therefore, after witnessing the task force completely blockading the gold mining site and persuading those remaining to leave, we also set off back to Kim Son town.

Dozens of makeshift tents and caves created by illegal gold miners on the Huoi Hang gold mine.

After a day without information, at 11:30 PM on April 5th, we re-established contact with the raiding team. Mr. Hoang Manh Trinh, an official from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and Deputy Head of the inspection team under Decision 163 of the Provincial People's Committee on mineral exploitation, stated that at 8 PM on April 4th, the raiding team from Tuong Duong reached the gold mine. After a night of staying put, at 6:30 AM on April 5th, the raiding force used detectors to scan the entire gold mine and discovered 25 rock crushers, generators, and 2,000 liters of diesel fuel that the ringleaders had buried underground. The team proceeded to disable the machinery, destroy all the fuel, fill in some pits, dismantle all the makeshift camps, and persuade those remaining at the mine to leave. By 4 PM, after the gold mining area in Huoi Hang mountain had been cleared, the raiding team drew up a handover report to the Que Phong district and Cam Muon commune authorities for management in accordance with Articles 2 and 3 of the Mineral Resources Law on the management of unexploited mineral resources. Que Phong district will instruct the district police and Cam Muon commune police to set up checkpoints on the access roads to prevent any remaining individuals in the area from returning to carry out illegal mining...

It can be seen that the crackdown has yielded certain results, and illegal gold mining in the Huoi Hang mountain area has been eradicated. However, objectively speaking, because the information about the operation was not kept secret, the results were not as desired. Furthermore, a question needs to be raised: after the crackdown forces withdraw, will the authorities of Que Phong district and Cam Muon commune be able to prevent illegal gold mining from returning? In reality, the gold mining area in the Huoi Hang mountains is located in a remote area bordering Tuong Duong district, with extremely difficult and treacherous access roads. Meanwhile, the local forces are thin, and besides the ringleaders, most of the illegal miners are local people with family and neighborhood connections to the local authorities, making it very difficult to completely eliminate the problem.

Due to gold mining, the hillside's foundation has been eroded, and numerous large cracks have appeared on its surface.

The Huoi Hang mountain area, Huoi May village, Cam Muon commune, sub-area 144 (bordering San village, Huu Khuong commune, Tuong Duong district) is the core area of ​​the Pu Huong Nature Reserve. Therefore, illegal gold mining here means that this Nature Reserve is being seriously damaged. In addition, there are risks of accidents, environmental pollution, and resource depletion. Therefore, the provincial authorities need to implement effective management measures soon.

Long - Hai - Lan