Illegal mining News

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Gold mining

Can mining gold be sustainable?

Felipe Esparza 11 Sep 2026

Riverside families in the Amazon change meals as mercury poisons staple fish

Karla Mendes 8 Sep 2026

In Peru, mercury leaves a toxic footprint on those who depend on a river

Elizabeth Salazar Vega 8 Sep 2026

Mercury threatens over 160 communities in Bolivia’s Beni River basin

Iván Paredes Tamayo 8 Sep 2026

New analysis maps mercury threat to 951 Amazon communities in three countries

Alexa Vélez, Vanessa Romo, Daniela Quintero Díaz 8 Sep 2026

Marine conservation collides with mining in Indonesia’s biodiversity-rich Moramo Bay

La Ode Risman Hermawan 4 Sep 2026
A Yanomami Indigenous child plays among the wreckage of a Brazilian Air Force aircraft at the Surucucu airport. Image courtesy of Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil.

Scientists use mining data to build malaria alert system in the Amazon

Fernanda Wenzel 1 Sep 2026
A Sumatran orangutan.

Gold miners breach a crucial refuge for rescued Sumatran orangutans

Junaidi Hanafiah 31 Aug 2026

‘Devastating’ rush for critical minerals has little to do with green energy: Report

Victoria Schneider 27 Aug 2026
Rainstorm over Pillcopata in the Peruvian Amazon. Photo by Rhett Butler/Mongabay.

Plans of Peru’s new administration spur concern among environmentalists

Aimee Gabay 25 Aug 2026
Dead fish in the Kafue River near the town of Luanshya, Zambia, a day after the tailings dam spill, Feb. 19, 2025. Image by AP Photo/Richard Kille.

A mine polluted a Zambian river in 2025: Residents continue to live with the impacts

Victoria Schneider 13 Aug 2026
Rokar Koang Commune, Kandal Province (Cambodia). Sand mining barges extract sand from the Mekong, May 2022.

Cambodia’s banned sand trade with Singapore appears to be back

Andy Ball 11 Aug 2026
Gold extraction site

Brazil’s mining agency under fire over corruption and omission probes

Fernanda Wenzel 4 Aug 2026

Nicaragua’s gold boom is now encroaching on protected areas and Indigenous land

Maxwell Radwin 3 Aug 2026

The global gold rush consuming the Amazon (commentary)

Robert Muggah 30 Jul 2026

How can Indigenous knowledge reshape AI development?

Mongabay.com 30 Jul 2026
A mine site at Samreboi, Western Region, Ghana in 2022. Image courtesy of Erastus Asare Donkor

Ghana’s High Court sentences politician to 20 years in illegal mining case

Mabel Adorkor Annang 24 Jul 2026
Western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus), Nzérékoré, Guinea. Image by augustofaustino via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Leaked study warns of irreversible damage from iron ore mine in Guinea UNESCO site

Josef Skrdlik, Oliver Dunn 24 Jun 2026

Illegal miners adapt their strategies in Yanomami Amazon territory

Rubens Valente 17 Jun 2026
Women and girls from Capirona gather to collect stones and make water filters, as part of the community experiment developed in partnership with the Yachana Foundation. Image courtesy of the Yachana Foundation.

In Ecuador, an Indigenous community goes thirsty despite its two rivers

Gabriela Verdezoto Landívar 12 Jun 2026
The Imbabala mine was abandoned and toxic waste formed a giant pool on the surface, creating dangerous living conditions for the Ermelo community living in the vicinity. Image courtesy of Daylin Paul/Centre for Environmental Rights (CER).

South Africa’s move away from coal marred by legacy of abandoned mines: Report

Anna Weekes 8 Jun 2026
Buddhist monks who participated in the Peace Walk arrive to attend a ceremony marking World Environment Day in Chiang Rai, Thailand, on 5 June 2026. Photo by Ta Mwe.

Northern Thai residents march for action on polluted rivers. ‘This is an emergency’

Gerald Flynn 8 Jun 2026
Illegal sand and gold mining

Indonesia seizes mercury shipment bound for illegal mines in the Philippines

Anggita Raissa 26 May 2026
The site of an illegal gold mine in Sijunjung Regency where a landslide occurred, killing nine people.

Nine killed at illegal mine in latest Sumatra landslide tragedy as gold surge continues

Novia Harlina 21 May 2026
Fisherman from the Sawré Muybu Indigenous Territory with his catch from the Tapajós River. Image courtesy of Luis Ushirobira/InfoAmazonia.

Artisanal mines in Brazil a front for gold laundering, investigation shows

Mongabay.com 21 May 2026

Organized crime adds to environmental destruction in the Amazon, report finds

Aimee Gabay 18 May 2026

Wetland destruction blamed for rise in croc attacks on Indonesia’s Bangka Island

Mongabay.com 13 May 2026
Fishers in the Mekong River near Chiang Khong, Thailand. Elevated arsenic levels at testing sites in the Mekong indicate that contamination may be spreading into this vital waterway. Image by Stefan Lovgren.

Dangerous arsenic levels detected in Thailand’s Mekong mainstream for first time

Gerald Flynn 8 May 2026
Small-scale miners in Shinyanga District Council, panning soil believed to contain gold. Image courtesy of Shaaban Njia.

Tanzania cracks down on mining sector, aims for inclusivity and sustainability

Nkwimba Nkwimba 7 May 2026
Fishers collect their nets on the Sesan River, just a few hundred meters from the O’Ta Bouk-Sesan confluence. Fishers who use the O’Ta Bouk told Mongabay that their catches have declined significantly over the past three years. Photo by Andy Ball/Mongabay.

Cambodia tested waters amid pollution claims; months later, still no public results

Andy Ball, Gerald Flynn, Phoung Vantha 4 May 2026
Armed police and military forces called by a Canadian mining company carry out operations in Sigchos

New report reveals how environmental crime threatens Amazonian communities

Aimee Gabay 30 Apr 2026
High-resolution satellite imagery allows IBAMA to detect deforestation in almost real time.

Brazil bill aims to ban satellite tool used to slow Amazon deforestation

Fernanda Wenzel 30 Apr 2026

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