By Minener Editorial Team | May 2025
The unprecedented rise in gold prices and the ease of processing the metal are fueling a new wave of illegal mining across the Amazon. According to satellite-based monitoring data, more than one-third of the environmental damage is taking place in protected areas and indigenous territories, with Brazil being the most severely affected.
In April 2025, gold surpassed US$3,500 per ounce, its highest level since 2012. This price spike, combined with low barriers to extract and treat the ore, has intensified illegal gold mining activities throughout the region.
These findings come from the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP), a satellite-based platform that tracks deforestation trends across 83% of the Amazon in five countries: Peru, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Bolivia.
Illegal Gold Mining Spreads Across Nine Amazonian Countries
MAAP’s latest report confirms active deforestation caused by illegal gold mining in all nine countries of the Amazon Basin. The most heavily impacted zones are:
- The southeastern region of Brazil, particularly between the Tapajós, Xingu, and Tocantins rivers,
- The Guiana Shield region, covering Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana,
- And southern Peru, especially the Madre de Dios region.
Meanwhile, illegal mining activity is also accelerating in Ecuador.
111,000 Hectares Deforested in 2024
In 2024, MAAP recorded over 111,000 hectares of new deforestation due to gold mining. While this represents a 35% decrease compared to 2023 and a 45% drop from the 2022 peak, the long-term trend remains alarming.
The total deforested area due to mining now exceeds 2 million hectares, reflecting a more than 50% increase since 2018, when the mining footprint stood at approximately 970,000 hectares.
Brazil Leads in Deforestation, Followed by Guyana and Peru
Brazil accounts for over half of all mining-related deforestation in the Amazon. It is followed by Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, and Peru. Despite the ongoing increase, the pace of deforestation has slowed in 2023 and 2024—a trend MAAP attributes to improved enforcement in Brazil.
Protected Areas and Indigenous Lands at High Risk
One of the most troubling revelations from the MAAP report is that over 36% of mining-driven deforestation—more than 725,000 hectares—has occurred in protected areas and indigenous territories, where much of the activity is considered illegal.
Of this damage, a staggering 88% took place in Brazil alone, further underscoring the urgent need for enhanced monitoring and legal enforcement to protect these vulnerable regions.
As gold continues to rise in value, environmental watchdogs warn that the Amazon may face irreversible ecological damage unless regional governments implement coordinated and sustained responses to combat illegal mining and enforce protections in high-risk areas.