Brazil's Efforts to Combat Illegal Gold Mining in Yanomami Reservation

By Amanda Perobelli and Anthony Boadle

SURUCUCU, Brazil (Reuters) – Brazil is nearly resolving the illegal gold rush that brought thousands of wildcat miners to the Yanomami reservation in the Amazon rainforest, resulting in a humanitarian crisis characterized by disease and malnutrition. Nilton Tubino, the official overseeing the operations, stated in a Friday interview that the Yanomami, South America’s largest Indigenous group living in isolation, have returned to their traditional lifestyle, engaging in crop cultivation and hunting.

Tubino is in charge of the government office established by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to orchestrate the efforts of police, military forces, environmental agents, and health workers on the reservation, which is about the size of Portugal, where 27,000 Yanomami reside.

“We are seeing many of them bathing in the rivers and returning to hunting, alongside areas being cleared for agriculture,” he remarked.

Since March, hundreds of operations have involved army and navy troops working in conjunction with environmental and Indigenous protection agencies to dismantle mining camps and gold exploitation sites.

Significant Actions Taken

• 42 clandestine airstrips were destroyed.
• 18 aircraft were set ablaze.
• 92,000 liters of diesel were confiscated.
• 45 dredging barges were submerged.
• 700 pumps were dismantled.
• 90 Starlink dishes were removed to eliminate miners’ communication.
• A radar system has been deployed to track illicit aircraft.

Tubino noted that deaths from malaria brought in by miners have decreased, and the government’s food aid has helped control malnutrition. Medical centers have reopened, with plans for a hospital in Surucucu, a border village near Venezuela.

A Reuters photographer reported indications of ongoing illegal mining within the reservation, but the situation has markedly improved compared to last year.

Community Responses

Junior Hekurari, head of the Yanomami health council, Condisi, acknowledged that while miners have been expelled and the health crisis managed, mining practices have disrupted food access due to mercury contamination in river waters. “The waters are poisoned and there are no fish,” he lamented, pointing out that the community believes the land is tainted, affecting crop yields.

Since taking office, Lula has led an extensive operation starting February 2023, which successfully removed roughly 80% of the estimated 25,000 gold miners from Yanomami territory with military assistance. Despite this success, a resurgence of miners occurred after military withdrawal, with some formerly hidden in the forest returning.

Though Tubino mentioned the number of remaining miners is unclear, this year’s initiatives have notably diminished their presence and eradicated over half of the gold prospecting sites. He emphasized the need to disrupt the supply chains that support the miners, covering aspects from fuel to food and the purchase of gold nuggets.