Rumors of a gold discovery recently spread through parts of Brazil, attracting hundreds of wildcat gold miners to the Madeira River in the Brazilian Amazon. Lashing their floating dredges together in broad rafts, the illegal mining operations have been active for weeks, sucking silt and mud from the river bottom to be processed, while environmentalists and officials sound alarms. On November 28, officers with the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) seized and set fire to more than 60 of the dredges in an effort to stop the mining, and most of the remaining vessels have reportedly dispersed.
A Crackdown on Illegal Gold Dredging in Brazil
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An aerial view shows dozens of dredging rafts operated by miners who have gathered illegally in a gold rush on the Madeira, a major tributary of the Amazon River, in Autazes, Amazonas state, Brazil, on November 23, 2021. #
Bruno Kelly / Reuters -
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Two barges burn onshore, after being set ablaze by IBAMA officers during an operation to contain illegal gold mining on the Madeira River, in Borba, Brazil, on November 28, 2021. #
Edmar Barros / AP -
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Miners display a banner that reads, in Portuguese,"Gold miners are not bandits; they are workers," after more than 60 illegal dredging barges were set on fire on November 28, 2021. #
Edmar Barros / AP -
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