Rainforest 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

Mines, dams move in as protection slips in a Cambodian wildlife sanctuary

Coby Hobbs, Eung Sea 6 Feb 2026
Destroyed trees inside the Apamprama reserve. Image by Awudu Salami Sulemana Yoda.

Successful campaign proves Ghana’s forests are worth more than gold (commentary)

Daryl Bosu 5 Feb 2026

How US intervention could deepen Venezuela’s environmental crisis

Maxwell Radwin 20 Jan 2026
Loading a barge with iron ore from Simandou. Image by Paul Kagame via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Hopes and fears as Guinea exports iron ore from Simandou mines

Ashoka Mukpo 16 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
Forest elephants

Wildlife and communities bear the cost as Simandou rail corridor advances across Guinea

Younoussa Naby Sylla 11 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
The Caquetá River serves as a vital transportation route for communities in the eastern Colombian Amazon.

Colombia slams international trade rules that punish states for climate action

Shanna Hanbury 19 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

‘Green’ energy transition leaves a dirty trail in the Philippines’ nickel belt

Bong S. Sarmiento 14 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

Critical minerals drive legalization of mining on Amazon Indigenous lands

Lucas Berti 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
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
The Santa Marta Five. Image courtesy of Lisbeth Ayala.

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

Shanna Hanbury 1 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
Drone shot of a mining site in Myanmar.

Satellite data show burst of deforestation in Myanmar rare earth mining hotspots

Latoya Abulu, Sonam Lama Hyolmo 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
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

In Ecuador, environmentalists worry Noboa is unwinding nation’s green reputation

Associated Press 4 Aug 2025
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva with his environmental and climate change minister, Marina Silva on his first day in office on Jan. 1.

Why is Lula still silent on Brazil’s ‘Bill of devastation?’ (commentary)

Philip M. Fearnside 8 Jul 2025
An oil pipeline through Wampis territory in the Amazonas department. Image by Jacob Balzani.

Banks bet big on fossil fuels, boosting financing in 2024, report finds

John Cannon 30 Jun 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

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

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