Brazil Amazon Rainforest. BRASÍLIA, Brazil — Brazil’s gold traders must now prove the legal origin of their metal after the nation’s highest court closed a major loophole that had fueled organized crime and environmental destruction.
On March 21, the Supreme Federal Court (Supremo Tribunal Federal “STF”) struck down a provision that presumed good faith in gold transactions, a rule that Justice Gilmar Mendes said had dangerously simplified the buying process and fueled a black market for illegally mined gold.
The decision mandates that the executive branch develop a new regulatory framework to prevent the sale of gold extracted from protected areas and Indigenous lands.
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The ruling marks a significant step in President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s broader campaign to curtail illegal mining.
While government efforts have led to declines in illicit operations in some regions, environmental groups warn that the practice is shifting rather than disappearing.
Greenpeace recently reported that miners relocated from heavily targeted northern areas to less policed territories.
According to the report, illegal mining decreased 7% on Yanomami Indigenous lands across the northern states of Amazonas and Roraima, dropped 57% in the Munduruku region, and fell 31% in the Kayapó region, both in Pará state.
However, the activity nearly doubled in the Sararé Indigenous lands of Mato Grosso, highlighting the adaptability of criminal networks.
“Mining activities might have gone towards the Sararé now because there aren’t enforcement operations there, but at some stage the illegal miners are bound to come back,” Fiona Watson, campaign manager at Indigenous rights group Survival International.
Analysts caution that the court’s decision, while impactful in the short term, may not eradicate illegal gold trading.
Criminal groups often forge certificates of legal origin and shift operations across porous borders into neighboring countries with weaker regulatory systems.
Authorities have documented such movements before. In December 2024, Brazil’s Federal Police dismantled a network that allegedly used Venezuelan migrants to smuggle illicit gold into Venezuela, Guyana, and Suriname.
Persistent corruption also undermines enforcement. Despite improvements in the legal framework, local and national officials accused of profiting from illegal mining have hampered efforts to stamp out the trade.
“Even with laws there must be deterrence, and corruption has to be stamped out, which means investigating powerful people and holding them to account. And that is much more difficult. It is like ensuring that crime doesn’t pay,” Watson said.
In recent months, police have conducted several operations targeting illegal gold networks with suspected political ties.
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In October 2024, Federal Police investigated a deputy and a military police commander allegedly linked to arms trafficking connected to illegal mining in Roraima.
The following month, two officials and two businessmen were arrested in Pará on suspicion of participating in a gold smuggling ring and accepting bribes.
Some regions’ economic reliance on illegal gold extraction further complicates enforcement.
In many remote communities, gold remains one of the few viable sources of income, making eradicating the illicit trade an even steeper challenge.
