The Brazilian Constitution bans illegal mining on Indigenous lands under any circumstances. But the high demand for minerals, especially gold, drove miners to invade Indigenous lands anyway. Since 2018, the area of gold mines in the Amazon has doubled (1,217% since 1985), while the metal’s value has nearly tripled, reaching an all-time record high. Since 2023, the federal government has conducted a crackdown on illegal miners, dealing significant blows to criminal operations in Indigenous lands. In the Yanomami Indigenous Territory (Brazil’s largest), operations resulted in more than 500 million reais ($93 million) in losses for illegal miners until mid-October, largely reducing the area affected by the activity, authorities say. In the Sararé and Munduruku lands, authorities have destroyed hundreds of camps, excavators and bunkers that serve to hide equipment and weapons linked to local crime syndicates. These actions are a direct response to the humanitarian and environmental crisis fueled by illegal mining. Criminals skyrocketed deforestation and mercury contamination in rivers and fueled violence in Indigenous communities, as the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime has warned in one of its 2025 reports. Illegal Mining in the Munduruku Indigenous Land in the Amazon. Image by Marizilda Cruppe / Greenpeace. However, while the administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva moves in one direction, the Brazilian Congress goes another. Controversial bills that aim to legalize mining and other large-scale economic activities within Indigenous lands — such as PL 1331/2022 and PL 6050/2023 — are currently in discussion (and advancing), raising concerns…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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