⛏️ The gold rush poisoning the Amazon

In the last three months of 2025, gold mining caused the combined deforestation of 6,000 hectares in Amazonian protected areas and indigenous lands, according to figures from Amazon Mining Watch. That’s an area around five times the size of Heathrow Airport.

At the same time, the price of gold has hit all-time high levels, roughly doubling its value from two years ago and reaching more than USD 4,500 an ounce — dropping off from its record peak of almost USD 5,300 this February.

While gold has served as a refuge for global investors amid turbulent geopolitical times, the reality of its mining in Brazil is often poisonous and can cause environmental, health and social ills, above all when conducted illegally.

After years of command-and-control measures to drive illegal small-scale gold miners out from protected lands, the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva appears to be shifting toward a carrot-and-stick approach, aiming to make artisanal mining more regulated and less hazardous.

One of the biggest villains in small-scale gold mining (known as garimpo) is mercury, the heavy metal used to…

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