SAO PAULO (AP) – The soaring price of gold in recent years has fueled a new mining boom. Brazilian Accelerating deforestation of protected areas in the Amazon rainforest is pushing mercury pollution to dangerous levels, officials and experts say.
A study released Tuesday by the non-governmental organization Amazon Conservation in collaboration with the Brazilian nonprofit Instituto Socioambiental found that illegal mining sites are carrying out clear-cutting within three protected areas in Brazil. Xingu regionone of the world’s largest protected forests, straddling the states of Para and Mato Grosso. The analysis combined satellite imagery and ground surveys.
The first case of illegal mining was recorded in September 2024 at the Terra do Meio Ecological Station. By the end of 2025, mining-related deforestation there had spread to 30 hectares (74 acres). Illegal mining accumulated 832 hectares (2,056 acres) of deforestation in the Altamira National Forest from 2016 to September 2025. The new mining front, which began in 2024, had expanded to 36 hectares (89 acres) by October 2025 and accounted for almost half of the mining-related deforestation recorded in forested areas that year.
Satellite monitoring also detected a secret airstrip used by illegal miners in the Nacentes da Serra do Cachimbo Biological Reserve last year. Illegal mining within protected areas increased from 2 hectares (5 acres) to at least 26.8 hectares (66 acres) in 2025.
Most deforestation due to mining is illegal, group announces
In 2023, Amazon Conservancy partnered with Earth Genome and the Pulitzer Center to develop Amazon Mining Watch, a platform that uses satellite imagery to track mining across the Amazon since 2018. Since then, approximately 496,000 hectares (1,225,640 acres) of rainforest have been cleared for mining, including approximately 223,000 hectares (551,045 acres). Acres in the Brazilian Amazon. Amazon conservation groups estimate that 80% of mining-related deforestation in Brazil carries a high risk of being carried out illegally.
This combination of satellite images shows the territory of Terra Indígena Kayapo in Brazil’s Para state in 2024 (left) and in 2025 after visible deforestation. (Amazon Conservation/Planet Labs PBC via AP)
This combination of satellite images shows the territory of Terra Indígena Kayapo in Brazil’s Para state in 2024 (left) and in 2025 after visible deforestation. (Amazon Conservation/Planet Labs PBC via AP)
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In Brazil, mining remains a relatively small factor in deforestation, as deforestation is largely linked to the expansion of agribusiness. For example, about 579,600 hectares (1.432 million acres) of the Brazilian Amazon were cleared in 2025, according to official data. According to Mining Watch, about 17,000 hectares (42,000 acres) were linked to mining.
“What makes mining particularly problematic is that it targets protected areas and indigenous territories,” said Matt Feiner, director of Amazon Conservation’s Andean Amazon Monitoring Program.
protection indigenous territory is widely recognized as an effective way to control Amazon deforestationthe world’s largest tropical rainforest and a major regulator of global climate. Researchers warn that continued deforestation could accelerate global warming.
Enforcement is often a game of cat and mouse
In 2023, Brazilian authorities will Massive crackdown on illegal gold mining Yanomami indigenous territory in the state of Roraima, along the border with Venezuela, after triggering a surge. Humanitarian and health crisis. Since that year, the annual growth rate of newly mined areas there has fallen sharply, according to data from Amazon Conservation. Although mining has not been completely eliminated, nearly all deforestation within Yanomami territory (approximately 5,500 hectares (13,590 acres)) has occurred by 2023.
Still, localized crackdowns have not curbed illegal mining across the Amazon. When authorities destroy dredging or equipment in an area, miners often relocate or resume operations after authorities leave. Andre Luis Porreca, the federal prosecutor investigating illegal mining in Brazil’s western Amazon, described the crackdown as a “game of cat and mouse.”
“Last year, I participated in an operation that destroyed more than 500 dredgers on indigenous land,” Porreca said. “The following week, the natives showed us photos proving that the miners had already returned.”
Porreca said illegal gold mining is financed by Brazil’s biggest criminal organizations, including the Red Corps and the First Capital Corps (PCC). One-third of the cities in the Brazilian Amazon. “They have the money to fund these operations. Some dredgers cost as much as R15 million.”
While the crackdown has eased pressure on Yanomami territory, illegal mining has intensified elsewhere, particularly across indigenous lands in the Xingu River Basin. The most critical situation is on the land of the Kayapo indigenous people, where approximately 7,940 hectares (19,620 acres) of rainforest have been cleared by illegal mining, the largest such area in the Brazilian Amazon.
Gold is causing mercury pollution
record gold priceAmid rising global risks, investor demand for safe assets is a key driver, creating strong incentives for illegal mining.
“It’s basic market logic: the more buyers there are, the more people are exploiting the money,” Porreca said. He said Brazil’s mineral export control system remains weak, allowing money laundering schemes to make illegal money look legitimate.
Environmental damage extends beyond deforestation. Illegal mining operations dump mercury into rivers, polluting waterways and accumulating it in fish consumed by riverside and indigenous communities.
In April, Porreca submitted a report to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights describing widespread mercury contamination in the Amazon. The report cites a study by state-run research institute Fiocruz that found 21.3% of fish sold in public markets across the Amazon exceeded the mercury limit set by the World Health Organization. Children between the ages of 2 and 4 were ingesting levels of mercury up to 31 times the recommended maximum.
Interest in mining is growing among environmentalists and indigenous peoples
Brazilian law prohibits mining on indigenous lands. The Ministry of Indigenous Peoples said in a statement that combating illegal mining on Indigenous lands is a priority for the president. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s management. The ministry said mine incursions are supported by criminal networks and countering them requires dismantling economic and logistics chains.
Mercury pollution from illegal gold mining remains a persistent problem in the Amazon, the Environment Ministry said, adding that it was expanding scientific monitoring while supporting enforcement efforts.
Brazil’s Federal Police did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.
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