The Amazon concentrated 92% of the gold mining surface in Brazil in 2022, according to data released this Friday by Mapbiomas, which also reveals the increase in the surface of illegal mining activities in protected forest areas in the country.
According to MapBiomas, which maps land use and cover in Brazil, gold mining “exploded” in the country in 2022, when the area occupied by the activity grew by 35 thousand hectares.
This growth basically occurred in the Amazon, which in 2022 concentrated almost all (92%) of the gold extraction area in Brazil.
“Almost half (40.7%) of the mined area in this biome [Amazónia] It has been open for the last five years. There is no doubt about the interest of the miners: 85.4% of the 263 thousand hectares of mining in Brazil are for gold extraction,” the document states.
A fact that caught the attention of researchers was the concentration of mining activity in restricted protected areas, which are illegal, such as the Jamanxin National Parks, the Juami Jupurá Ecological Station and the Yanomami Indigenous Land, in Roraima.
“Historical satellite images show that the first three have been attacked by miners for more than 20 years, but have experienced substantial growth in the last 10 years. The entire area at the Juami Jupurá Ecological Station, in turn, has less “In the case of the Yanomami TI, exponential expansion has occurred in the last 10 years,” the researchers said in a statement.
“The size of these mines [área de extração de ouro] It stands out on maps, being easily identifiable even by laymen. It is surprising that, year after year, they still survive. Their existence and growth are evidence of economic and political support for the activity, without which they would not survive, since they are located in areas where mining is prohibited,” highlighted César Diniz, technical coordinator of mining mapping at MapBiomas.
Last year, more than 25 thousand hectares in Indigenous Lands (TI) and 78 thousand hectares in Conservation Units (UC) were occupied by illegal mining in the Brazilian Amazon. In 2018, they were 9.5 thousand and 44.7 thousand hectares, respectively.
Mapbiomas also revealed that almost two-thirds (62.3%) of illegal mining areas within Brazilian indigenous lands were opened in the last five years.
The Indigenous Lands most invaded by miners are Kayapó (13.7 thousand hectares), Munduruku (5.5 thousand hectares), Yanomami (3.3 thousand hectares),treatim do Igarapé Preto (1 thousand hectares) and Sai-Cinza (377 hectares).
One of the consequences of illegal mining in indigenous and conservation areas of the largest tropical forest on the planet is the silting of rivers and the contamination of their waters.
Satellite images collected by the organization showed that the basins most affected by illegal gold extraction are Tapajós, Teles Pires, Jamanxim, Xingu and Amazonas.
If illegal mining advances, the same cannot be said for industrial mining.
According to data from Mapbiomas, there was no growth in the area occupied by this activity, which in 2022 occupied around 180 thousand hectares registered in 2021.
Last year, this area corresponded to less than half (40%) of the total occupied by mining activity in Brazil: 443 thousand hectares.
Source: TSF
