With a name like Costa Rica one would think that this republic would be rich in natural resources, but that is in fact not true. Costa Ricas land and climate are in fact its more richest natural resources. Some minerals are to be found, but there are not many.
1.Bauxite Deposits
Bauxite deposits are found in the General and Coto Brus Valleys.
Bauxite is used in the production of aluminium.
2.Copper
Copper can be found in the Corillera de Talamanca.
3. Manganese (Element)
Manganese is found on or near the Nicoya Peninsula.
4. Gold
Gold, though extemely rare, can be found on the Osa Peninsula and parts of the Pacific slopes.
5.Magnetite
Magnetite is found scattered throught the beaches of Costa Rica, but particularly in the Souther Caribbean Coast.
Sources:
I guess I am not surprised about the gold, but it is interesting the current (and past) proliferation of illegal mining operations in areas that are currently national parks and how that gets 'excused' as there are not 'a lot of jobs in the area'...(http://www.ticotimes.net/2013/03/01/gold-miners-invade-corcovado).
ReplyDeleteI am not at all surprised that Costa Rica is relatively devoid of valuable natural resources because it was colonized by Spain and they were pretty efficient at robbing their colonies of their natural resources. What little gold was there before the Conquistadors arrived was probably swiftly mined and sent back to Spain. I had never heard of Bauxite before reading this post. It sounds like a fairly valuable substance to mine especially given that it can be used in the fracking process as a proppant. However, Costa Rica is hardly one of the major producers of Bauxite so I wonder how much they actually profit from mining it.
ReplyDeleteClare has a good point...the 'conquistadores' for sure left their mark in most of the 'New World', and for sure in the island that Cousteau named 'the most beautiful island of the world'. One of my favorite parts of history is when pirates started to proliferate....it seems there is a good story about a 'Spanish' treasure stolen from Costa Rica and moved to Cocos...and today there are still efforts to try to find it..
ReplyDeleteThe problem here is that there is not much bare land. Everything is covered w rich vegetation. Rivers and beaches are the exceptions.
ReplyDeleteWe found a treasure trove of agates and some other great stones on the Pacific side at the beaches. Buckets of great rocks to be found.
ReplyDeleteI live here and have found quite a bit of amethyst as well as various other agates and geodes. Where at in the pacific ? Thanks
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