Brazilian Gold

Brazilian gold is an important South American export, and Brazil is consistently ranked among the top dozen gold-producing countries in the world. Brazil’s gold-mining industry accounts for a large portion of the country’s economy but also raises concerns. Experts have stated that between one-quarter and one-third of the Brazilian gold that reaches the world marketplace is mined illegally. Increased demand for gold worldwide has led to organized crime moving into gold-mining operations, particularly in Brazil. In addition, both legal and illegal Brazilian gold mines have caused experts to question miners’ health and safety as well as that of the native populations and ecosystems around them.

The term “Brazilian gold” can also refer to a type of gold plating used on some jewelry that is sold as gold-filled jewelry. Gold plating is a technique in which a less expensive base metal is given a coating of gold. The thin layer gives the jewelry the appearance of being expensive at a much lower cost. Brazilian gold jewelry uses a layer of 3 percent 18-karat gold, about 40 percent less gold than is used in other gold-filled jewelry. This makes it even less expensive than other similar jewelry. Like all gold-filled jewelry, however, the gold coating can rub off Brazilian gold, which makes it less durable than other forms of gold jewelry.

Background

The discovery of gold in Brazil in the late seventeenth century was responsible for significant changes in the area. Brazil became a Portuguese colony in the 1500s. More than two centuries later, explorers and traders of enslaved people known as bandeirantes were tracking Indigenous people with the intent of selling them into slavery when they discovered gold. The discovery was made in what is now the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais.

This initiated what became the longest-lasting gold rush in world history, which ran from the discovery of Brazilian gold in the 1690s until the nineteenth century. By the time it was over, it is estimated that 350,000 ounces of gold were extracted from the area. Brazilian gold mining also altered the country’s history. The discovery of Brazilian gold had a profound effect on the colony, its mother country, and the world. In exchange for allowing the mining, Portugal required Brazil to send it one-fifth of all the gold mined in the colony. This affected the economy in both countries.

The need for mine labor increased the demand for the enslaved people, and thousands of Indigenous people were enslaved by the Portuguese. Thousands more enslaved Africans were also transported to the colony to work the mines. As happened in other areas where gold was discovered, large numbers of people moved to the area by choice in search of a fortune. As a result, more than five hundred thousand Africans and four hundred thousand native South Americans were relocated to the area by the 1720s, resulting in the area around Minas Gerais being home to more than half of Brazil’s entire population.

The demands of this increased population combined with the mining technology used also affected the ecology of the area. At the time, most of the gold was found in alluvial deposits, which result when silt, minerals, and other similar substances fall to the bottom of streams and other moving water. Miners work alluvial deposits with sluice boxes and gold pans. A sluice box is a long, narrow box made of wood or metal constructed with a series of barriers that slow the water, allowing the gold—which is heavier than other sediment of similar size—to fall to the bottom. Prospecting pans are hand-held devices that function similarly. The process of mining alluvial gold deposits created a great deal of activity in and around the streams and rivers, changing the ecosystems.

Overview

While the Brazilian gold rush ended in the nineteenth century when the more easily mined alluvial deposits ran out, gold mining continues to impact the country in the twenty-first century. It has the sixth-largest gold deposits in the world, and gold continues to be found in the Minas Gerais area as well as in Para and Goias. However, the simple sluice boxes and gold pans used during the gold rush are no longer sufficient. Contemporary gold mining operations use aircraft to spot likely sites for mining and trucks, diggers, dredges, suction hoses and huge sluices, and other heavy equipment are used in Amazonian waterways to extract the gold.

According to a 2025 article in MoneyWeek, gold prices have increased by 81 percent from 2019 to 2024, reaching an all-time high of $2,788 in 2024. The lure of significant profits once again encouraged many to begin mining operations in Brazil. While some of these are legitimate mining operations adhering to government regulations, many are smaller independent operations known as wildcats working outside the rules. Organized crime has also moved into the Brazilian gold business. The mines are illegal because they operate without government authorization on protected acreage or in ways that damage the environment.

Most of the gold deposits are along Amazonian waterways, and the pollutants generated from mining can harm this natural resource and the ecosystems that depend on it. Mining operations eager to get at hard-to-reach gold deposits use heavy equipment to dig as well as aircraft to surveille potential mining sites. They also bring in infrastructure to support their operations, including housing, roads, restaurants, and shops for their workers.

These operations also often work without regulations, putting the health and safety of the miners working for them in danger. In addition, thousands of acres along the Amazon are deforested annually to make way for mining. Instead of lush tropical forests, the land is left with barren stretches and holes, some contaminated with mercury and other chemicals. This puts the lives and livelihoods of Indigenous inhabitants at risk. Experts say that damage to the Amazon ecosystem also endangers plant life in the area because the exchange of carbon dioxide for oxygen performed by the area’s plants is key to the health of Earth’s atmosphere.

These mining operations—legal and illegal—have grown from mining 68,000 hectares of land in 2002 to more than 224,000 hectares in 2022 and exports from 35 to 96 tonnes annually, according to a 2024 article published on Mining.com. Authorities identified more than three hundred illegal mines but acknowledged that there are likely many more. They project that almost one-third of the Brazilian gold that reaches the world market is from illegal mines. These operations are difficult to stop because once raw gold has been marketed, it is almost impossible to tell whether it came from a legal or an illegal source.

Bibliography

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Chaim, Gabriel and Daisy Walsh. “The Illegal Brazilian Gold You May Be Wearing.” BBC News, 3 Feb. 2021, www.bbc.com/news/av/world-latin-america-60236777. Accessed 16 May 2022.

“Gold Discovered: Brazil, Five Centuries of Change.” Brown University Library, library.brown.edu/create/fivecenturiesofchange/chapters/chapter-1/gold-discovered/. Accessed 16 May 2022.

“Gold Production by Country 2022.” World Population Review, worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/gold-production-by-country. Accessed 16 May 2022.

Henrique, Guilherme, and Ana Magadha’s. “Top Brazil Gold Exporter Leaves a Trail of Criminal Probes and Illegal Mines.” Mongabay, 10 Nov. 2021, news.mongabay.com/2021/11/top-brazil-gold-exporter-leaves-a-trail-of-criminal-probes-and-illegal-mines/. Accessed 16 May 2022.

Lima, Eduardo Campos. “Illegal Gold Mining Booms in Brazilian Amazon, Harming Environment, Health.” National Catholic Reporter Earthbeat, 15 Dec. 2021, www.ncronline.org/news/earthbeat/illegal-gold-mining-booms-brazilian-amazon-harming-environment-health. Accessed 16 May 2022.

McEvoy, Dan. "Gold Price Hit a Record High in 2024

Muggah, Robert. “Brazil’s Illegal Gold Rush Is Fueling Corruption, Violent Crime and Deforestation.” Mongabay, 14 Jan. 2022, news.mongabay.com/2022/01/brazils-illegal-gold-rush-is-fueling-corruption-violent-crime-and-deforestation/. Accessed 16 May 2022.

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Venditti, Bruno. "Brazilian Gold Mines Linked to Illegal Use of 185 Tonnes of Mercury." Mining.com, Northern Miner Group, 5 June 2024, www.mining.com/brazilian-gold-mines-linked-to-illegal-use-of-185-tons-of-mercury/. Accessed 17 Jan. 2025.