The Next Gold Rush May Not Require a New Mine
For most of the past decade, the gold story out of the Amazon has been a policing story. Informal garimpo mining spread across the basin, damaged rivers and forests, and fed gold into supply chains with limited traceability. Brazil responded by tightening transaction rules and increasing enforcement. Reported production from wildcat mines fell from approximately 31 tonnes in 2022 to 17 tonnes in 2023, then dropped another 84% through the first seven months of 2024 compared with the same period in 2022.Less attention has gone to what comes next. Miners may leave, but their tailings remain, ...