Illegal mining News

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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
Leaching ponds have been drilled into the mountains of Laos, using a mix of toxic chemicals to separate the rare earth minerals from the other materials siphoned out of the ground. Image supplied by source.

Rare earth mining expands into Laos, threatening entire Mekong River

Mongabay 27 Oct 2025
Flowing from Myanmar into Thailand, the Kok River carries toxic runoff from rare earth mines into Chiang Mai province. Image supplied by Brian Eyler.

More Thai rivers and downstream communities at risk from Myanmar’s rare earth mines

Mongabay 20 Oct 2025

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

Maxwell Radwin 17 Oct 2025

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

Associated Press 7 Oct 2025
In just a few months, Global Green have cleared vast swathes of forest in Prey Lang, opening the northern section of the wildlife sanctuary up to more potential deforestation. Image by Gerald Flynn / Mongabay.

Protected areas hit hard as Mekong countries’ forest cover shrank in 2024

Gerald Flynn 6 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
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
Heavy machinery operates at the nickel mining site of PT Kawei Sejahtera Mining on Kawe Island, Raja Ampat.

Religion at a crossroads in Indonesia as Islamic groups bid to operate large-scale mines

Ramadani Saputra 25 Sep 2025

Canada’s mining companies destroy biodiversity with impunity, Indigenous journalist reports

Mike DiGirolamo, Rachel Donald 16 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
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
mining equipment on fire

Cross-border operation cracks down on environmental crimes in the Amazon

Mie Hoejris Dahl 6 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
Mamiraua reserve. Image courtesy of Thiago A. Lacerda via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Community patrols can slash environmental crime by 80% (commentary)

Caetano Franco 21 Jul 2025
Illegal and unregulated gold mining in the La Pampa area near Puerto Maldonado, Peru. Photo courtesy Jason Houston/Upper Amazon Conservancy.

In the Andes, decentralization fails to address environmental harm

Timothy J. Killeen 17 Jul 2025
Illegal gold mining inside the Munduruku and Sai Cinza Indigenous Lands

Nine takeaways on Brazil’s crackdown on illegal mining in Munduruku lands

Aimee Gabay 23 Jun 2025
Munduruku people from the Sawré Muybu village gather in an assembly to receive feedback from Fiocruz on the hair sample test results determining levels of mercury contamination in people. Image by Joao Paulo Guimaeres via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

After crackdown on illegal miners, Indigenous Munduruku still grapple with health aftermath

Fernanda Wenzel, Karla Mendes 16 Jun 2025
Sediment is clearly visible close to nickel mining operations on Kawe Island, Raja Ampat, discolouring the water in one of Indonesia’s most biodiverse marine areas. The concession covers an area of 5,922 hectares and is located within the mega-biodiversity region of Raja Ampat, West Papua. Image courtesy of Greenpeace.

No respite for Indonesia’s Raja Ampat as nickel companies sue to revive mines

Hans Nicholas Jong 13 Jun 2025

Indonesia halts most nickel mining in Raja Ampat, but allows one controversial permit

Hans Nicholas Jong 10 Jun 2025

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

Stefan Lovgren 9 Jun 2025

Pushback grows against nickel mining in Indonesian marine paradise of Raja Ampat

Hans Nicholas Jong 9 Jun 2025
IBAMA raid to fight illegal mining in the Yanomami Indigenous Land in Roraima in December 2023. Image courtesy of IBAMA.

Amazon illegal gold mines drive sex trafficking in the Brazil-Guyana border

Elizabeth Oliveira 29 May 2025
The proximity with non-Indigenous culture and lack of economic alternatives make some young Mundurukus turn to illegal mining.

From chickens to cassava, Brazil’s Munduruku seek alternatives to mining

Fernanda Wenzel, Karla Mendes 20 May 2025
Brazilian Indigenous lawyer Kari Guajajara. Image by USAID via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0).

‘We can’t talk solutions without understanding complexities: Kari Guajajara on Brazil’s Amazon

Latoya Abulu 12 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
A towering tailings pile sits directly behind a residence in Poço Dantas. Image by Rebeca Binda.

In Brazil’s Jequitinhonha valley, communities share how to reduce lithium mining impacts

Amanda Magnani, Rebeca Binda 30 Apr 2025

Armed groups and junta profit as toxic mines devour southern Myanmar

Dawei Watch 23 Apr 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 bypass enforcement by smuggling gold into Venezuela

Fernanda Wenzel 22 Apr 2025
Paulo’s killing has become the symbol of the guardians’ fight to protect Arariboia.

Mongabay investigation spurs Brazil crackdown on illegal cattle in Amazon’s Arariboia territory

Karla Mendes 11 Apr 2025

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