Gold mining surges on Indigenous lands in Brazil's Amazon, analysis finds

Gold mining across Brazil's Amazon has expanded most rapidly on Indigenous territories, according to an analysis released Tuesday by the Amazon Environmental Research Institute, a nonprofit known as IPAM.

The total area affected by gold mining in the Amazon was 20 times larger in 2024 than in 1985. On Indigenous lands, the increase was steeper still: mining covered 24 times as much land, and the affected area expanded nearly sevenfold between 2016 and 2024 alone.

Nearly 90% of the impacted area lies within three territories, among them the Munduruku Indigenous Territory in the northern state of Para.

Record gold prices, driven largely by investor demand for safe assets amid rising global risks, have fueled a renewed mining rush in the region, spiking deforestation and mercury contamination of riverine and Indigenous communities.

IPAM said the mining is compounding climate risks for Indigenous communities. Climate change, driven primarily by human activities that raise greenhouse gas concentrations, has intensified droughts and heat in the Amazon.

"Extreme weather events threaten access to water, food, transportation and healthcare," the nonprofit said. "At the same time, expanding illegal mining contaminates rivers, accelerates environmental degradation and fuels health problems and violence, further weakening Indigenous communities' ability to adapt."

Earlier this month, representatives of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights traveled to Para for hearings with the Munduruku people, including sessions held inside their territory. The visit aimed to assess Brazil's compliance with provisional measures recommended by the court in 2022 to protect Indigenous communities' rights.

Munduruku leaders presented satellite imagery and field-monitoring reports showing that illegal gold miners had returned after federal operations in 2024 and 2025 removed them. They also reported health impacts including a surge in malaria cases, higher infant mortality rates and mercury contamination linked to delays in children's language and motor development.

Under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazilian authorities have stepped up efforts against illegal mining. Police and environmental agencies have carried out major operations targeting criminal networks, while investigators have increasingly used forensic science to trace gold and identify illegally mined metal.

Enforcement has not eliminated illegal mining across the Amazon. When authorities destroy mining equipment in one area, miners often move elsewhere or resume operations after officials leave. In the Munduruku territory, Indigenous watchdogs had identified 10 new illegal mining sites as of August.

In a Sept. 10 statement, Brazil's Ministry of Human Rights said government officials attended the hearings and discussed continued territorial enforcement, along with improvements to water supply and food safety. The ministry also acknowledged the need for a "more detailed technical response" to mercury contamination.

Brazilian law prohibits mining on Indigenous lands. On Monday, the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, known by the Portuguese acronym Apib, said in a statement that protecting the Munduruku territory requires more than removing those who invade it.

"The activity is part of a transnational criminal economy in which armed groups control extraction, gold and drugs move along the same river routes, and mining permits are used to give a veneer of legality to illegally extracted gold," Apib said.