Amazon mining News

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A small airplane used for the illegal mining network is set on fire by IBAMA inspectors in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory.

Brazil mining boss sentenced for illegal gold operation on Indigenous land

Shanna Hanbury 12 Feb 2026

Data show oil and gas blocks cover one-fourth of Ecuador, mostly in the Amazon

Aimee Gabay 29 Jan 2026

Interpol-backed police make nearly 200 arrests in Amazon region gold mining sweep

Associated Press 22 Jan 2026

How US intervention could deepen Venezuela’s environmental crisis

Maxwell Radwin 20 Jan 2026
After burning off the mercury, a relatively pure piece of gold remains. Image by Thomas Graham for Mongabay.

Turning the Amazon’s toxic gold mine waste liability into economic opportunity (analysis)

Timothy J. Killeen 13 Jan 2026
The Indigenous Macaquiño community on the banks of the Vaupés River in Colombia’s Vaupés region. Image by Aimee Gabay/Mongabay.

Urban sprawl and illegal mining reshape a fragile Amazon frontier

Aimee Gabay 6 Jan 2026
The mining dredges installed along the Nanay River have begun to consume sections of forest. Image courtesy of FCDS Peru.

Mercury, dredges and crime: Illegal mining ravages Peru’s Nanay River

Enrique Vera 31 Dec 2025
Devastation left behind by illegal gold mining within the borders of the Sararé Indigenous territory in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Image courtesy of IBAMA.

Brazilian Amazon’s most violent city tied to illegal gold mining on Indigenous land

Shanna Hanbury 3 Dec 2025
Satellite image showing the destruction of the Sararé Indigenous Territory in Mato Grosso state, Brazil, left behind by illegal gold mining. Image via Google.

One small Indigenous territory emerges as illegal mining hotspot in Brazil’s Amazon

Shanna Hanbury 28 Nov 2025
Indigenous participants at the Free Land Camp on April 10, where they discuss rights, territorial protection, and their role in COP30. Image by AP Photo/Eraldo Peres.

What was achieved for Indigenous peoples at COP30?

Sonam Lama Hyolmo 27 Nov 2025
Puerto Caimán Island in the Curare-Los Ingleses Indigenous Reserve’s conservation area.

Colombia bans all new oil and mining projects in its Amazon

Shanna Hanbury 18 Nov 2025
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is in an arm wrestling match with environmental agents to unlock oil extraction on the Amazon North shore. Image by Ricardo Stuckert/PR.

Strategic ignorance, climate change and Amazonia (commentary)

Philip M. Fearnside 13 Nov 2025

The price of gold: In Venezuela, mining threatens Indigenous Pemón

Catherine Ellis 11 Nov 2025

Indigenous delegates prepare for COP30 with focus on justice, land and finance

Sonam Lama Hyolmo 7 Nov 2025

Suriname’s plan to capitalize on carbon: Q&A with President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons

Maxwell Radwin 4 Nov 2025
Puerto Caimán Island in the Curare-Los Ingleses Indigenous Reserve’s conservation area.

Indigenous communities protect Colombia’s uncontacted peoples

Rhett Ayers Butler 4 Nov 2025

Brazil dismantles hundreds of illegal dredges in major Amazon mining crackdown

Associated Press 3 Nov 2025

Critical minerals drive legalization of mining on Amazon Indigenous lands

Lucas Berti 3 Nov 2025
Female Indigenous guardians. Image by Brandi Morin.

Indigenous guardians successfully keep extractives out of Ecuador’s Amazon forests

Brandi Morin 22 Oct 2025

A closer look at Peru’s Amazon reveals new mining trends, deforestation

Maxwell Radwin 17 Oct 2025
Illustration by Sara Arredondo – Baudó Agencia Pública.

Indigenous monitoring project helps protect isolated peoples in Colombia’s Amazon

Pilar Puentes 16 Oct 2025
Mamai Lucille William. Photo courtesy of the North Pakaraimas District Council

Mamai Lucille Williams, a quiet symbol of dignity amid destruction, has died, aged about 93

Rhett Ayers Butler 16 Oct 2025
In February, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva praised planned investments by Vale during a public event in Pará state, urging the company to ensure dam safety. Image courtesy of Ricardo Stuckert/Presidência da República.

Copper rush pushes Vale to ramp up mining near Amazonian protected areas

André Schröder 14 Oct 2025
Amazon rainforest in Ecuador. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler

MPs across Latin America unite to stop fossil fuels in the Amazon

Mie Hoejris Dahl 9 Oct 2025
Lina Ruiz and Lita Rojas outside of the court in Ucayali after hearing the first ruling. Image by Hugo Alejos.

Report finds 226 Indigenous land defenders in Peru at risk of violence

Yvette Sierra Praeli 29 Sep 2025
Monitors from the Ticuna community of San Francisco de Yahuma, in Loreto, Peru. They use drones to monitor and protect their forests. Image courtesy of Joseph Zegarra/Rainforest Foundation US.

Indigenous women in Peru use technology to protect Amazon forests

Astrid Arellano 24 Sep 2025
IBAMA officers watch a camp on fire.

Brazil can green its environmental crime-fighting in the Amazon (commentary)

Anna Gielas 4 Sep 2025
A female member of the Charip territorial monitoring group standing outside a monitoring post holding a traditional spear. Image courtesy of Maria Goretii/Convoca.

The making of an autonomous Indigenous nation in Peru’s Amazon

Aimee Gabay 3 Sep 2025

California lawmakers seek to curb oil imports from Amazon

Associated Press 27 Aug 2025

What’s at stake for the environment in Bolivia’s upcoming elections?

Maxwell Radwin 15 Aug 2025
Although operations like Green Shield are useful, experts say that they are not the solution for combatting illicit activities in the Amazon in the long run, as activities such as illegal mining continue to expand. Image courtesy of the UAE Ministry of Interior.

Formalizing small-scale gold mining can reduce environmental impacts & crime (commentary)

Robert Muggah 7 Aug 2025

Surge in critical minerals claims puts Brazil’s land reform communities at risk

Maurício Angelo; Lúcio Lambranho; Fábio Bispo and Gabriela Sarmet (The Mining Observatory) 6 Aug 2025

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