Area increased from 79,200 hectares in 2013 to 151.7 thousand in 2021; data are from Instituto Escolhas
The gold mining area in the Amazon has grown by more than 90% in 8 years, according to a study prepared by Instituto Escolhas. The survey shows that the area increased from 79,200 hectares in 2013 to 151,700 hectares in 2021.
The report Opening the mining book attributes this growth to a series of legal facilities established over the years, with emphasis on the law 12,844 of 2013. According to the study, the normexempted gold buying companies [metal que responde por quase toda a atividade garimpeira do país] responsibility for their legal origin, requiring them only to keep paper forms, completed by hand, in which sellers declared the origin of the gold without any need for proof”.
Also according to the survey, this legislation made it difficult for authorities to identify gold of illegal origin and combat money laundering. The expansion of the gold mining area in the 8 years prior to the law, between 2005 and 2013, stood at 28.6%.
This legislation was approved based on a view, according to the study, that mining was an individual and small-scale activity. However, the work shows that the Amazonian mines are made with high investments and have a great financial return.
Investments
According to the survey, approximately R$ 3.3 million in machines and infrastructure are needed to establish a mining raft. The undertaking for extracting gold has a potential profitability of R$ 1.1 million per month, with profit reaching R$ 632 thousand per month.
The study was based on the mines in the region of Itaituba, in Pará, the largest gold producer in the country. On a raft, metal extraction usually involves approximately 18 workers who take turns in three teams, producing 3.75 kilos of gold per month.
In the mines established on land, close to the riverbeds, the estimate is that the initial investment in machinery and structure will be approximately R$ 1.3 million. With revenues of R$ 930,000 per month, these gold extraction stations earn R$ 343,000 per month.
Illegality
Another survey on the subject, published by Instituto Escolhas in February 2022, showed that from 2015 to 2020, Brazil sold 229 tons of gold with evidence of illegality. The amount represents almost half (47%) of the amount of metal exported by the country in the period. Of this total, 54% came from the Amazon Region. One third of all the suspected gold was bought by four companies, two of which are already the target of lawsuits by the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office.
In April of this year, the STF (Federal Supreme Court) suspended the so-called gold bona fide presumption, where the legality of the metal is assumed by the buyer based solely on information provided by the seller. The decision requires the federal government to adopt, within 90 days, a new normative framework for the inspection of the gold trade, with verification of origin.
Regulation
The study Opening the mining book concludes that it is necessary to increase the regulation of gold extraction in the country, establishing withdrawal limits and strict environmental licensing. “It is necessary to contain the unbridled expansion of mining in the Amazon, given its serious impacts on forest conservation, human health and the rights of affected people and communities.”, emphasizes the document.
With information from Brazil Agency.
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