Good morning! Today: shrouded in controversy and illegality, gold mining in the Amazon sees a boom during the pandemic. Energy crisis is getting even worse, says operator of Brazil’s national grid. Inflation is affecting more and more sectors.
Mining interest in the Amazon explodes during pandemic
While gold prices have dipped as of late, the precious metal saw huge gains in 2020 — reaching record levels a year ago (over USD 2,000 per ounce) as investors rushed for safe bets as the pandemic broke. Some analysts predict that a new gold rally is brewing, as U.S. inflation is here to stay for the foreseeable future.
- These higher gold prices also jacked up the level of interest for mining ventures in the Amazon rainforest, with licensing requests up 342 percent according to a recent report by multiple organizations linked to indigenous communities.
- In the state of Amazonas alone, there are 2,857 active licensing processes for mining ventures — comprising a total of 12 million hectares, or 8 percent of the state’s territory.
Why it matters. Mining sites often trespass on indigenous lands, leading to conflicts with native communities and increasing deforestation.
- Per Greenpeace, forest destruction linked to wildcat mining rose