Gold rush in the Brazilian Amazon (original) (raw)
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Major Brazilian gold deposits – 1982 to 1999
Mineralium Deposita, 2001
Brazil has been a major but intermittent producer of gold since its discovery in 1500. Brazil led the world in gold production during the 18th and early 19th centuries. From the late 19th century to the late 20th century, total mining company and garimpeiro production was small and relatively constant at about 5 to 8 t/year. The discovery of alluvial deposits in the Amazon by garimpeiros in the 1970s and the opening of eight mines by mining companies from 1983 to 1990 fueled a major boom in Brazil's gold production, exceeding 100 t/year in 1988 and 1989. However, garimpeiro alluvial production decreased rapidly in the 1990s, to about 10 t/year by 1999. Company production increased about tenfold from about 4 t/year in 1982 to 40 t in 1992. Production from 1992 to the present remained relatively stable, even though several mines were closed or were in the process of closing and no new major mines were put into production during that period.
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Upon the arrival of Portuguese settlers to Brazil in 1500, there was an obsession to find precious metals and gems. However, it took almost two centuries to find economic and abundant gold deposits in Minas Gerais. Gold and diamonds generated fabulous wealth to the Portuguese crown during the 18th century and part of the next. As the alluvial deposits were depleted, better techniques had to be employed to assure profitability, but a number of failures apparently eroded the motivation of Brazilian entrepreneurs to invest in mining during the Empire. As the population grew and the country started its industrialization process in the 20th century, the mining industry diversified intensely and became one of the six largest mineral producers in the world. Notwithstanding these achievements, it is likely that the best is yet to come, regarding gold, diamonds and other valuable minerals.
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Encroachment onto Indigenous Lands has increased under Jair Bolsonaro’s government and is threatening the communities’ culture, economy and ways of life. Numerous bills are now passing through Congress in response to the need for extractivism and these will affect traditional Indigenous occupation. In turn, the presence of “garimpos” or informal gold miners on the territories is spreading malaria and Covid-19, placing further strain on an already wholly inadequate health system. The possibility of genocide is now a real and impending threat. By María de Lourdes Alcantara for Debates Indígenas.
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Brazilian indigenous lands prevent the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest while protecting the land rights of indigenous peoples. However, they are at risk because they overlap with large areas of registered interest for mining. Indigenous lands have been in the spotlight of the pro-development wing of the parliament for decades, and the current president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, promised that he would open up these territories for exploitation. Recently, bill PL191/2020 was released to downgrade the protection status of indigenous lands by regulating mining activities in these territories. Mining operations have an unavoidable socio-environmental impact on indigenous communities that is difficult to compensate. First, rapid demographic growth associated with the incoming migrant workforce often causes social disruption and threat indigenous societies. Moreover, sustained pollution related to mining procedures and accidental spills largely degrade the environment and imperil i...
The Prevalence of Illegal Gold Production in Brazil
Introduction Brazilian mining law Methods Results Discussion and conclusion References Supplementary materials The main gold producer is the state of Minas Gerais that accounts for 32% of the 2020 national production, the equivalent to 38.5 tons coming from large-scale mining companies. However, two other states also stand out as major producers. Pará with 32.7 tons (27%) and Mato Grosso with 14.6 tons (12%), both located in the Legal Amazon (15), with production mainly coming from "garimpos" (wildcat miners).
Formalized small-scale gold mining in the Brazilian Amazon: an activity surrounded by informality
2013
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Currently, artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM), known in the Brazilian Amazon as “garimpagem”, generates direct income for approximately 35,000 gold miners in the Tapajos region. Most of the gold mining sites are located in the Par´a cities of Itaituba, Jacareacanga and Novo Progresso, operating various technical and organizational structures that require distinct levels of capital and technological investments, constituting a complex commercial supply chain of services, inputs and equipment on a regional national and international scale based on the commercialization of gold, which in most cases is negotiated under informal and illegal conditions. The main objective of this ethnographic research is to analyze the predominant model of mining production used in the region in consolidation with the use of backhoe technology in the production process, focusing on the relations and working conditions of small miners. The results of this research are to understand and describe how the productive structures that currently exploit gold in the Tapajos region are organized under what conditions the small miners extract the ore from the Amazonian soil.