Illegal Gold Mining in Brazil's Amazon Still Rakes in Billions Despite Crackdown

Even with Brazil's president pushing hard to stop illegal mining in the Amazon, a new Greenpeace report highlights that illicit gold extraction continues at a massive scale. The group found that miners are exploiting loopholes in the system, using mining permits from inactive areas as cover to legitimize billions of dollars' worth of unlawfully sourced gold.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva vowed to curb illegal operations after the previous administration saw a surge in unregulated mining activity. While federal police cracked down last year, seizing a record amount of illegally mined gold, the problem persists at an alarming level.

The watchdog's analysis canvassed 187 regions with mining permits close to Indigenous territories or protected zones within the Amazon. Disturbingly, 98 of those areas showed zero signs of actual mining on the ground, indicating that these permits are being abused to launder gold mined elsewhere.

Between 2018 and March 2026, nearly 27 metric tons of gold-valued at an estimated $3.88 billion-were sold backed by these so-called 'ghost permits.' Aerial inspections confirmed inactive mining in permitted zones but spotted active illegal operations just minutes away in protected lands.

The trail of illicit gold is murky, but investigators link much of it to protected Indigenous territories, including the land of the Kayapo people in Para state. Local leaders voice their frustration, citing environmental destruction and toxic pollution that severely harm their communities.

The Brazilian mining regulatory body acknowledged the challenges posed by hundreds of thousands of permits scattered across the vast Amazon. They emphasized ongoing monitoring but admitted the region's sheer size hampers effective oversight.

According to Greenpeace, as long as the loophole of laundering gold via fake permits remains open, illegal mining will continue expanding unabated in the Amazon, escalating the environmental and social consequences.

This persistence raises questions about Brazil's ability to balance economic interests with protecting its crucial biodiversity and Indigenous rights amid soaring gold prices worldwide. The issue remains a complex knot to untangle with significant implications for the future of the region.