Brazil cracks down on illegal gold mining, sparking anger in the Amazon
Brazil has ramped up efforts to quell illegal gold mining over the last two years. Police raids in the Brazilian Amazon’s gold capital have destroyed mining machinery, leaving miners angry and struggling to keep their operations running, Mongabay’s Fernanda Wenzel reports .
Federal agents destroyed 150 backhoes and 600 dredgers used in illegal mining in 2023, cutting deforestation from mining by 30% compared with the previous year. Almost all efforts were concentrated in the Itaituba municipality in Pará state, which produces 75% of Brazil’s illegal gold. The crackdown has sparked protests and frustration in Itaituba, where most people rely on gold mining for income, culminating in a 10-day protest in April, Wenzel writes.
Rampant gold mining has caused widespread environmental destruction in the Amazon Rainforest, including polluted rivers, mercury contamination, large-scale fish deaths and deforestation.
But most clandestine miners, or garimpeiros, are frustrated with the government’s actions. “[They] burned my excavator and broke everything with no mercy,” mine owner Carlos Mendes Moares told Mongabay.
