Illegal mining News

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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
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

AI tool tracks spread of illegal gold mining in Amazon protected areas

Constance Malleret 24 Apr 2026
The saltwater crocodile — the world’s largest reptile — can exceed 6 meters (20 feet) in length

Wetland destruction for mining, oil palm tied to crocodile attacks in Indonesia

Taufik Wijaya 23 Apr 2026
Pa Haw, father of Saw Si Paw, takes to the Salween River each morning to inspect their nets for fish, despite heavy metal contamination linked to mining sites upstream. Photo by Gerald Flynn/Mongabay.

Asia’s longest free-flowing river contaminated by arsenic linked to Myanmar mines

Gerald Flynn 20 Apr 2026
Pista Velha mining site in the Baú Indigenous Territory captured during an overflight on July 19, 2025. Image courtesy of the Xingu+ Network.

Brazil: Satellites expose rampant gold mining expansion on Indigenous Kayapó land

Shanna Hanbury 15 Apr 2026
Gold mining in the Peruvian Amazon in 2011. Photo by Rhett Butler.

The Amazon’s silent crime crisis (commentary)

Carlos Nobre, Robert Muggah, Ilona Szabo 15 Apr 2026

Venezuela’s new mining law could spell disaster for the Amazon, critics warn

Maxwell Radwin 10 Apr 2026
The Kapawi River, soon to be the first “solar river” in the Amazon, is a lifeline for more than 1,000 Indigenous peoples and is home to endangered pink river dolphins (Inia geoffrensis). Image by Andrés Cornejo.

Indigenous governance key to protecting Amazon Basin connectivity, experts say

Constance Malleret 7 Apr 2026
Juma Xipaia, an Indigenous chief from the Brazilian Amazon. Image © Malaika Pictures.

Behind the scenes of the Amazon’s gold rush: Director Richard Ladkani on the making of ‘Yanuni’

Aimee Gabay 25 Mar 2026
A meeting in the Cinta Larga territory in 2017. Image for representation purpose only. Image by Amazônia Real via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

Brazil Supreme Court opens path to mining in Indigenous land for first time

Aimee Gabay 11 Mar 2026

Sumatra province plan to permit ‘community’ mines alarms civil society

Jaka Hendra Baittri 20 Feb 2026
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
An artisanal miner holds up a fragment of copper-bearing ore at the Lukuzi.

What’s happening with the global treaty to trace critical minerals?

Aimee Gabay 3 Feb 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
A mine in Likasi on November 26, 2025. Image by Glody MURHABAZI / AFP).

In the race for DRC’s critical minerals, community forests are on the frontline

Didier Makal, Latoya Abulu 16 Jan 2026
Forest illegally cleared for oil palm in Riau Province. Photo by Rhett A Butler

Indonesia says 4 million hectares of plantation, mining lands reclaimed in crackdown

Hans Nicholas Jong 14 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
Foothills of the Atewa forest range, one of several ecologically sensitive areas where mining permits have been issued. Image by Ahtziri Gonzalez/CIFOR via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Ghana repeals legislation that opened forest reserves to mining

Awudu Salami Sulemana Yoda 8 Jan 2026
Rescuers search for victims at the site of a landslide in Suwawa on Sulawesi Island in July 2024.

Indonesia’s illegal gold boom leaves a toxic legacy of mercury pollution

Sarjan Lahay, Junaidi Hanafiah, Teguh Suprayitno 7 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
Indigenous people attend the People's Summit during the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30). Photo by Rafa Pereira/COP30.

Top 10 Indigenous news stories that marked 2025

Aimee Gabay 29 Dec 2025

Rio Doce communities still live with toxic water, 10 years after Mariana disaster

Ramana Rech 17 Dec 2025

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