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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

Mining controversies: The hidden toll of green energy

Valisoa Rasolofomboahangy 17 Dec 2025
A woman gathers plants along the banks of the Mekong River while a child plays in the background. Water levels of the mighty Mekong River have dropped drastically due to drought-like conditions and damming upstream. The drop disrupts the region’s water supply, transport routes, and the livelihood of communities in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that more than one billion people will face water shortages due to climate change. Credit: © Greenpeace / Vinai Dithajohn

New mapping reveals hidden mining boom in Laos that threatens the Mekong

Andy Ball, Gerald Flynn, Konlaphat Siri 10 Dec 2025

In Chocó, river defenders say race for energy transition threatens lifelines

Euan Wallace 8 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
Satellite imagery from February 2025 shows the transformation of the landscape at Global Green's gold mine, which is believed to be contaminating the O'Ta Bouk River. Image provided by Google Earth, Maxar Technologies.

Toxic runoff from politically linked gold mine poisons Cambodian rivers, communities

Andy Ball, Gerald Flynn, Phoung Vantha 24 Nov 2025
Pokigron and Atjoni villages beside the Suriname River. Image courtesy of Wikimedia.

Why don’t forest protectors get paid? asks Suriname’s president

Rhett Ayers Butler 21 Nov 2025

Gold mining exposes Indigenous women in Nicaragua to high mercury levels

Aimee Gabay 20 Nov 2025

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

Catherine Ellis 11 Nov 2025

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

Maxwell Radwin 4 Nov 2025

Brazil dismantles hundreds of illegal dredges in major Amazon mining crackdown

Associated Press 3 Nov 2025
Gold mine in the Dimonika Biosphere Reserve, the Republic of the Congo

Gold mining impacts persist after DRC shuts down company operations: Video

Mongabay.com 28 Oct 2025

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

Maxwell Radwin 17 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

South American trade bloc orders Peru to crack down on mercury trafficking and illegal gold mining

Associated Press 7 Oct 2025
Miners pan for gold at a gold mine in El Callao, Bolivar state, Venezuela, Friday, April 28, 2023. Miners pan for hours in ponds where standing water fosters mosquitos that transmit diseases, such as malaria and dengue fever. Photo by: AP Photo/Matias Delacroix.

Amid Venezuela’s illegal gold heist are armed groups, gangs & elites, report says

Aimee Gabay 2 Oct 2025
The Santa Marta Five. Image courtesy of Lisbeth Ayala.

Antimining activists cleared of ‘farce’ murder charges in El Salvador

Shanna Hanbury 1 Oct 2025
Aerial photo of the March for Water held in Cuenca on Sept. 16. Image via @czamoramatute on X.

100,000 Ecuadorians protest Canadian mining project threatening key water source

Shanna Hanbury 19 Sep 2025
Gold mine in the Dimonika Biosphere Reserve, the Republic of the Congo

What Republic of Congo’s gold rush is leaving behind

Berdy Pambou 17 Sep 2025

Study maps rare Borneo forests with unique habitats & urgent need for protection

Basten Gokkon 13 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
Miners work at a legal mining concession in Huaypetue, Madre de Dios, Peru. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Mexico’s rising mercury trade fuels toxic gold mining in Latin America: Report

Maxwell Radwin 30 Jul 2025

Peru seizes record 4-ton mercury shipment in fight against illegal gold mining

Associated Press 25 Jul 2025
Person kneeling in gold mine extraction site

Organized crime & gold trade are increasingly connected, report shows

Fernanda Wenzel 25 Jun 2025
Keleino and his colleagues leave a community after training for the city of Lae.

‘It’s our garden’: PNG villages fight to prevent mine waste dumping in the sea

John Cannon 13 Jun 2025

Rare earth rush in Myanmar blamed for toxic river spillover into Thailand

Stefan Lovgren 9 Jun 2025
Future of Mexican communal land in limbo as mining company overstays agreement

Future of Mexican communal land in limbo as mining company overstays agreement

Aimee Gabay 27 May 2025
An excavator and a gold washing station at the Alangong-Bamegod-Inès mine site in the Sangha. This equipment is typical of semi-industrial gold mining, while the water for the washing station is drawn from surrounding streams, raising concerns about contamination. Image by Elodie Toto for Mongabay.

Deforestation in REDD-protected Congo rainforests is ‘beyond words’

Mike DiGirolamo 20 May 2025

Republic of Congo’s gold mining boom undermines conservation efforts

Mongabay.com 16 May 2025
Federal forces have been expelling illegal gold miners from protected areas like the Munduruku Indigenous Territory in Pará state. Image courtesy of the Federal Police. 

Amazon illegal miners smuggle gold into Venezuela

Fernanda Wenzel 15 May 2025
Located in the Amapá state, the second-largest red angelim ever found is 85.4 meters (280 feet) tall and has a circumference of 9.8 meters (32 feet). Image courtesy of João de Matos Filho / Prodemac.

Gold rush moves closer to Amazon’s second-tallest tree

Mongabay.com 1 May 2025

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