Tibetan nomads have driven Chinese gold miners away from a sacred mountain in China’s Qinghai province, vowing to give up their lives if necessary to protect the site, the abode of a local god, according to Tibetan sources.
They set fire to the gold miners’ tents and launched 24-hour patrols around the mountain located in the Tibetan-populated Gade county in the Golog (in Chinese, Guolo) prefecture in a bid to keep the gold miners at bay, the sources said.
“The nomads are now watching for intruders on the mountain,” a Tibetan living in the U.S. told RFA, citing contacts in the region and speaking on condition of anonymity.
The mountain, called Dringye Ngo Sorma, is known for the beauty of the lake at its base, for the green meadows on its slopes, and for other characteristics “typical of a sacred mountain,” the source said.
“The deity that lives on the mountain is believed to be very ferocious and powerful,” he added.
On Aug. 10, Chinese miners arrived in the valley at the foot of the mountain and made plans to extract gold from the valley, the source said.
And though local government officials warned Tibetan residents of the area not to interfere with the work, the gold miners’ tents were set on fire two days later.
“The authorities could not detain the persons involved in the burning, as they had all escaped and gone into hiding,” the source said.
Round-the-clock watch
On Aug. 14, Tibetans from the four nomadic groups in the area of Tsangkor Sholma gathered at the mountain, but the Chinese miners had by then fled from the area, the source said.
“So the Tibetans conducted a grand smoke-offering ceremony at the site and then went back to their homes.”
Two nomadic groups are now watching the lower valley of Dringye Ngo Sorma, while another two groups guard the valley of another mountain, Kyu Ri, the source said, adding, “So now the Tibetans are watching these valleys around the clock, both day and night.”
Tibetan residents of the area have refused all orders to let the mining work proceed and have vowed not to allow the extraction of “even one handful of soil” from the sacred mountain, the source said.
Mining operations in Tibetan regions have led to frequent standoffs with Tibetans who accuse Chinese firms of disrupting sites of spiritual significance and polluting the environment as they extract local wealth.
On Aug. 15, Chinese security forces shot dead a Tibetan and detained six others as they dispersed a crowd of 1,000 Tibetans protesting the resumption of mining operations in Markham county in Tibet, according to Tibetan sources.
Last year, China’s official media reported that investment in the exploration of mineral resources in the Tibet Autonomous Region will be accelerated over a five-year period.
Tibet has large proven and potential reserves of vital deposits, but little exploration has been done so far, the Xinhua news agency reported.
Initial studies show that the Tibet Autonomous Region has China’s largest chromium and copper reserves, while most of its iron, gold, silver, potassium, oil, and natural gas reserves remain unexplored, the report said.
Reported by Chakmo Tso for RFA’s Tibetan service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Here in the US the native Americans seem to have been driven out of most areas where gold could be found even it a reservation. The clavary came in the help out when needed. Getting protected status of areas bfore minerals is found might be helpfule but once found good luck. Our history is not one tht offeres any encouragement at all. All of the American continent has been stripped of gold and now is mass mine for specs of dust. Spain couldn't get enough they offered the first govenemnt bonds bsed ojn future gold deliveries from tbne new world because they wer over spending on wars. Some things in the west never seem to change and it is too bad the east is trying to follow in our footsteps. Trying to get help from us is just like letting foxes in the hen house.
Sep 25, 2012 08:23 PM
To Merieke from Hervey Bay,It is good to study the Tibetan belief system, and their deities which are ancient before you open your mouth and say such an ignorant comment.
Sep 04, 2012 07:51 PM
The Chinese government is despicable, and no one should visit that country. The world should stop dong business with China immediately. If my country had the courage of its convictions, which it time and again has proved it does not, it would be the first to withdraw financial dealings with China.
Sep 02, 2012 09:02 PM
Raping sacred land for finite mineral deposits by Chinese when their vast land still has them will ultimately & karmically reveal to the Chinese the noble truth of their ancestral brothers right to cultural identity.
Sep 01, 2012 12:40 AM
I was impressed at the beginning to read that people had taken action against miners to protect a beautiful environment, but then it turns out that they are instead protecting the "home of a ferocious and powerful deity"! They still believe in this sort of stuff in 2012!! Besides, if the deity is so ferocious and powerful it would be able to protect its own territory without the aid of little humans?
Aug 31, 2012 07:52 PM
