Brazilian Government Clamps Down on Illegal Gold Miners Within Amazon

Authorities in Brazil are stepping up efforts to clamp down on illegal gold mines operating within the Amazon forest. The government has already evicted nearly all illicit gold miners in the Yanomami territory and is expected to eliminate illegal miners in six more reserves in 2023. Leveraging aerial photography and satellite imagery has allowed authorities to destroy 250 mining camps and confiscate 1.2 kilograms of gold and 4,500 liters of fuel.

Last year, a report from NGO Instituto Escolhas revealed that total gold production from illegal mining operations in the Amazon was equal to nearly one-half of the gold produced and exported in Brazil legally. The report noted that illegal mining had caused an extensive increase in deforestation in the Amazon forest from 2015–2021. It also said that most illegal gold is extracted through wildcat mining, putting relatively isolated indigenous communities in the Amazon at risk.

Brazilian law enforcement has begun setting up bases in the Amazon rainforest to tackle the issue of illicit gold mines. Humberto Freire, the head of the police’s new environmental crimes division, said police are also looking to cooperate with foreign players to trace the origin of illegal gold through means such as radioisotope technologies. Freire is the newly appointed leader of the environment and Amazon department of Brazil’s federal police.

Freire stated that recent efforts to curb illegal gold mines in the Amazon rainforest mark a “new era in the battle against environmental crime” and the defense of the indigenous people who call the rainforest home. These efforts began nearly two months after Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared a humanitarian crisis in the Yanomami territory.

Thousands of illicit gold miners in the region have spread malaria, threatened locals with firearms, polluted rivers and caused the wild game to run off, leading to a significant food crisis and widespread malnutrition. In early February, the government began arresting illegal miners, confiscating, and destroying their equipment. Officers from the environmental protection agency IBAMA have managed to secure and destroy a plane, helicopter, and other large machinery used in the illicit mining operations.

Justice Minister Flavio Dino said in a press conference that the agency was destroying and confiscating mining equipment to prevent the equipment from being used in future illicit activities.

With the region estimated to have up to 20,000 illegal miners, completely removing all the miners from the Yanomami territory will be a herculean task. Freire noted that some groups of miners are resisting law enforcement efforts to clear the region by hiding in the dense rainforest.

As gold mining around the world becomes dominated by licensed production companies such as Newmont Corporation (NYSE: NEM) (TSX: NGT), the hazards linked to illegal mining will be wiped out as sustainable mining practices become prevalent.

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