Formalizing Amazon gold mining can transform a toxic liability into an economic opportunity (analysis)

Mongabay
Jan 13, 2026, 7:13 pm333 ptsTop
The wildcat gold mining boom that swept across the Amazon beginning in the 1970s left behind an environmental catastrophe of staggering proportions. At least 350,000 hectares (almost 865,000 acres) of forest and wetland habitat have been destroyed by placer mining operations across the Pan Amazon, with the…

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