About 3.2 million acres already are under contract for mineral exploration in poor and sparsely settled Chubut Province, where Esquel is, near the southern tip of South America.

艾斯圭尔位于接近南美洲大陆极南点、贫穷而人烟稀少的丘布省内，矿物探勘合约涵盖了该省近三百二十万亩的土地。

More than 3,000 worried Esquel residents recently took to the streets in protests aimed at assuring that their neat community of 28,000 beco mes an ecotourism center, not a gold-rush town.

三千多位忧心如焚的艾斯圭尔居民最近走上街头抗议，要求将这处拥有两万八千居民的净地作为生态旅游中心，不要沦为淘金城。