A new study by researchers from Climate Policy Initiative/Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (CPI/PUC-Rio) and the Amazon 2030 project reveals that legal gold mining (garimpo) in the Amazon causes widespread deforestation, pollution, and social harm—similar to or even exceeding the impact of illegal mining in some cases. The report warns that Brazil’s outdated regulations are not equipped to deal with the industrial scale of today’s gold garimpo and offers recommendations to strengthen environmental safeguards at the federal and state levels.
Gold is the most mined mineral in Brazil, and 92% of all garimpo areas—both legal and illegal—are located in the Amazon. While authorities have cracked down on illegal garimpo in Indigenous Lands and protected areas, especially in the Yanomami territory, the study highlights that legal mining operations also pose serious threats due to regulatory loopholes, weak licensing practices, and lack of transparency.
Key findings from the report:
Legal gold mining is expanding fast: Between 2016 and 2023, 82% of all new legal gold mining permits in Brazil were granted in the Amazon. The states of Pará and Mato Grosso alone account for 99% of these permits.
Cooperatives dominate legal garimpo: Garimpo cooperatives operate areas 178% larger than those of individual miners and even twice the size of mining companies. This shows a shift from artisanal to business-scale operations.
Regulation is outdated: Brazil’s Mining Code and related laws treat garimpo as a small-scale activity, allowing it to bypass key requirements like prior deposit discovery studies. As a result, environmental damage often goes unmonitored.
Environmental licensing in Pará is too lenient: Although mining is officially classified as a high-impact activity, the state of Pará has delegated garimpo licensing to municipalities using a simplified, single-stage process. This weakens oversight and contradicts federal norms. The issue is currently being reviewed by Brazil’s Supreme Court (STF).
Lack of transparency: Licensing data is fragmented and hard to access, especially in Pará. This prevents effective monitoring and enforcement, increasing the risk of gold laundering and environmental harm.
The researchers warn that ongoing legislative proposals in Brazil’s Congress could further weaken garimpo oversight by expanding legal mining without addressing current regulatory gaps.
Recommendations from the study include:
Updating federal legislation to reflect the real scale of garimpo operations;
Requiring deposit discovery studies for garimpo cooperatives;
Strengthening environmental licensing procedures, especially at the state level;
Increasing transparency in licensing and monitoring;
Halting legislative efforts that expand garimpo without reforming its regulatory framework.
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