Minería de arcilla: tecnologías, procesos y problemática ambiental en La Guajira, Colombia

Objective: To conduct a study on technologies, environmental problems, and environmental processes in mining companies that exploit clay in the Guajira region (Colombia).  Methodology: The research was based on the post-positivist epistemological paradigm with a descriptive approach, and its sources come from documentary review and direct observation, with field, non-experimental, and cross-sectional designs. The population comprised five mining companies, i.e., Camarones, San Pedrito, El Confuso, Loma Fresca, and La Junta, dedicated to the extraction of clay and marketing of bricks in the Guajira region. To collect the information, the Leopold matrix and a questionnaire structured by 24 items were applied, implementing the validity and reliability through criteria set by experts. Results: It was found that the technologies used in the mines are handmade and rudimentary, showing a pattern of environmental externalities that affect the physical, biological, and socioeconomic environments. Likewise, a disarticulation was found between the general environmental law, mining code, and land use planning at the location of the mines, this being one of the causes of environmental and territorial conflicts in the mines.  Conclusions: In short, five impacts on the physical and biological environments and four impacts on the socioeconomic environment were identified, for a total of nine environmental externalities affecting the zone of influence of each of the mines; in particular, it is suggested to technically improve mining processes using clean technologies and the insertion of environmental processes to facilitate the socioenvironmental management of the mining companies.