Gold mining in Brazil

Gold mining in Brazil has taken place continually in the Amazon since the 1690s, and has been important to the economies of Brazil and surrounding countries. In the late 17th century, amid the search for indigenous people to use in the slave trade, Portuguese colonists began to recognize the abundance of gold in the Amazon, triggering what would become the longest gold rush in history. This gold rush was also characterized as the first one in the modern century, making the region a very important step in gold mining around the world. The news of latent gold in Brazil (primarily in Minas Gerais) flooded the area with foreigners around 1693-1695. Despite the influx of money and political power this generated, it did not facilitate proper construction of mining institutions, therefore much of the collection was inefficient. Due to the already profitable agricultural operations taking place in the east, many Brazilians had been sent into the jungle as part of several agricultural reform programs. The methods and practices have changed in the following centuries and the work is often dangerous and detrimental to the surrounding ecosystems. Because artisanal mining is prohibited under federal law, the methods employed are often crude and unregulated, resulting in polluted water and massive deforestation.

More recently, partly due to the increasing price of gold, small-scale mining activity increased by 300% from 2000 to 2010. Illegal miners had been emboldened by the policies of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who opposed the protection of indigenous populations living in areas targeted for mining.