{"id":104507,"date":"2026-05-06T13:27:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T17:27:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=104507"},"modified":"2026-05-06T13:27:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T17:27:35","slug":"a-gold-fueled-mining-rush-scars-brazils-amazon-spiking-deforestation-and-mercury-risks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/06\/a-gold-fueled-mining-rush-scars-brazils-amazon-spiking-deforestation-and-mercury-risks\/","title":{"rendered":"A gold-fueled mining rush scars Brazil\u2019s Amazon, spiking deforestation and mercury risks"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Gabriela S\u00e1 Pessoa SAO PAULO (AP) \u2014 The surge in gold prices in recent years has fueled a renewed mining rush in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, accelerating deforestation in protected areas and driving mercury contamination to hazardous levels, officials and experts say. A study released Tuesday by the nongovernmental organization Amazon Conservation, in partnership with Brazilian nonprofit Instituto Socioambiental, found illegal mining sites drove clear-cutting inside three conservation areas in the Xingu region, one of the world\u2019s largest expanses of protected forest, spanning the states of Para and Mato Grosso. The analysis combined satellite imagery with ground research. The Terra do Meio Ecological Station recorded its first cases of illegal mining in September 2024. By the end of 2025, mining-related deforestation there had spread to 30 hectares (74 acres). At… <\/p>\n

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By Gabriela S\u00e1 Pessoa SAO PAULO (AP) \u2014 The surge in gold prices in recent years has fueled a renewed mining rush in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, accelerating deforestation in protected areas and driving mercury contamination to hazardous levels, officials and experts say. A study released Tuesday by the nongovernmental organization Amazon Conservation, in partnership with Brazilian nonprofit Instituto Socioambiental, found illegal mining sites drove clear-cutting inside three conservation areas in the Xingu region, one of the world\u2019s largest expanses of protected forest, spanning the states of Para and Mato Grosso. The analysis combined satellite imagery with ground research. The Terra do Meio Ecological Station recorded its first cases of illegal mining in September 2024. By the end of 2025, mining-related deforestation there had spread to 30 hectares (74 acres). At... <\/p>\n

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Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"\nA gold-fueled mining rush scars Brazil\u2019s Amazon, spiking deforestation and mercury risks - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/06\/a-gold-fueled-mining-rush-scars-brazils-amazon-spiking-deforestation-and-mercury-risks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A gold-fueled mining rush scars Brazil\u2019s Amazon, spiking deforestation and mercury risks - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Gabriela S\u00e1 Pessoa SAO PAULO (AP) \u2014 The surge in gold prices in recent years has fueled a renewed mining rush in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, accelerating deforestation in protected areas and driving mercury contamination to hazardous levels, officials and experts say. 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