https://www.miningweekly.com

Amazon bears brunt of gold-prospecting surge, Brazil study shows

31st August 2021

By: Bloomberg

  

Font size: - +

A new analysis of satellite images shows the extent of mining growth in Brazil, particularly small-scale gold prospecting in the Amazon region.

Between 1985 and 2020, the area of Brazil dedicated to mining grew more than sixfold to about half a million acres, according to a MapBiomas report. Small operations that use manually-intensive methods surged in recent years to occupy a larger area than industrial mining.

The Amazon has borne the brunt of that growth as supposedly protected areas are exploited to feed global demand for beef, soybeans, leather and minerals. Brazil’s government is actively engaged in a campaign to open up the Amazon to development.

The biome accounts for 72.5% of Brazil’s total mining area and 93.7% of small-scale and informal mining, known in Brazil as garimpo. Half of garimpo mining is in conservation or indigenous lands, the study shows.

Illegal prospecting has been increasing lately and now accounts for half of artisanal activity, federal prosecutor Gustavo Kenner Alcantara told a conference on Monday.

Edited by Bloomberg

Article Enquiry

Email Article

Save Article

Feedback

To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here

Showroom

Goodwin Submersible Pumps Africa (Pty) Ltd
Goodwin Submersible Pumps Africa (Pty) Ltd

Goodwin Submersible Pumps Africa is sole distributors for Goodwin electrically driven, submersible, abrasion resistance slurry pumps.

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Stewarts & Lloyds
Stewarts & Lloyds

Stewarts & Lloyds is a leading steel, tube, and engineering product supplier in South Africa.

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.044 0.067s - 111pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now