# Greenpeace traces $3.9bn 'ghost-permit' gold laundering as illegal mining spreads in Peru's Amazon
> Brazilian artisanal permits laundered 25 tonnes of gold from likely-illegal sites; mercury contamination pushes deeper into Cusco and Puno

**Meta:** type: story · date: 2026-06-01 · heads: 谁的钱, 什么崩了, 生活如何改变 · 13 takes · 3 lenses · 5 regions

## Summary

A Greenpeace Brasil report (1 June 2026) showed how [Brazil's](/zh/entity/brazil) artisanal-mining permits
([garimpo](/zh/entity/illegal-gold) PLGs) launder gold: 98 irregular permits moved a declared 25.3 tonnes
worth ~R$18.4bn (~$3.88bn) between 2018 and March 2026, with 94% classed as "ghost" or industrial-scale
operations, much of it from Indigenous lands and protected areas. Because Brazilian law requires no
prior geological survey, any declared tonnage passes as clean. In [Peru](/zh/entity/peru), MAAP satellite data put
gold-mining deforestation at 139,169 hectares by mid-2025 (97.5% in Madre de Dios), now spreading into
Cusco and Puno as enforcement scatters miners. [Mercury](/zh/entity/mercury) contamination of rivers and Indigenous
communities accelerates with record gold prices.

## By the numbers

- 25.3 tonnes, gold laundered via 98 irregular Brazilian permits (2018-March 2026).
- ~$3.88bn (R$18.4bn), declared value of that laundered gold.
- 94%, share of those permits classed as "ghost" or industrial-scale.
- 139,169 ha, Peruvian Amazon gold-mining deforestation by mid-2025 (97.5% Madre de Dios).

## Why it matters

Record gold prices make illegal mining the Amazon's most lucrative extractive crime, and the
permit system turns regulatory gaps into a laundering pipeline that reaches global refiners. Mercury
poisons rivers and Indigenous food chains; enforcement displaces rather than stops the miners.

## What to watch

- Whether Brazil's ANM tightens permit verification or Lula's government acts on the report.
- Peru's response as mining spreads into Cusco and Puno river corridors.
- Mercury smuggling routes (from Mexico) feeding artisanal extraction.

## Regional takes (batched by bias / lens)

### unlabelled
- **Greenpeace Brasil** (Brazil, pt) — Greenpeace Brasil report (1 June 2026): 98 artisanal-mining permits (PLG) with irregularities laundered a declared 25.3 tonnes of gold worth ~R$18.4bn (~$3.88bn) between 2018 and March 2026; 94% classed as 'ghost' garimpos or industrial-scale operations exploiting the lack of prior geological survey.
  Source: https://www.greenpeace.org/brasil/imprensa/lavagem-de-ouro-greenpeace-brasil-denuncia-fraudes-em-permissoes-de-garimpo-na-amazonia-e-revela-esquema-bilionario/
- **Amazon Conservation / MAAP** (Peru, en) — MAAP satellite analysis: gold-mining deforestation across the Peruvian Amazon reached 139,169 hectares by mid-2025 (97.5% in Madre de Dios), now spreading along river corridors into Cusco and Puno as enforcement scatters miners to remoter terrain.
  Source: https://www.maapprogram.org/gold-mining-peru-amazon/
- **CNN Brasil** (Brazil, pt) — 
  Source: https://www.cnnbrasil.com.br/nacional/brasil/garimpo-fantasma-e-usado-para-lavar-ouro-ilegal-na-amazonia-diz-estudo/
- **InfoMoney** (Brazil, pt) — 
  Source: https://www.infomoney.com.br/brasil/estudo-inedito-do-greenpeace-mostra-como-garimpo-ilegal-dribla-a-legislacao/
- **ClimaInfo** (Brazil, pt) — 
  Source: https://climainfo.org.br/2026/06/01/garimpo-ilegal-dribla-repressao-e-ainda-extrai-ouro-na-amazonia/
- **MINING.COM** (Canada, en) — 
  Source: https://www.mining.com/web/illegal-miners-extract-billions-in-amazon-gold-despite-brazil-crackdown-greenpeace-finds/
- **The Washington Post** (United States, en) — 
  Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/02/23/peru-illegal-gold-mining-amazon-mercury-indigenous/00d7f392-10df-11f1-8e8d-fe91db44677b_story.html
- **ABC News** (United States, en) — 
  Source: https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/gold-demand-puts-perus-amazon-greater-risk-mercury-126289339
- **IPEN** (Global, en) — 
  Source: https://ipen.org/massive-amounts-mercury-gold-mining-are-smuggled-mexico-polluting-amazon-and-threatening/
- **InSight Crime** (Peru, en) — 
  Source: https://insightcrime.org/investigations/a-toxic-trade-illegal-mining-in-peru-amazon/
- **Mongabay** (Global, en) — 
  Source: https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/perus-crackdown-on-illegal-gold-mining-a-success-but-only-briefly-study-shows/

### environmental investigative
- **((o))eco** (Brazil, pt) — Details how Brazil's Permissão de Lavra Garimpeira lets any declared gold tonnage pass as legitimate because no prior mineral survey is required, so ANM regulatory gaps turn protected-area and Indigenous-land gold into 'clean' export, a structural laundering channel, not isolated fraud.
  > "Flaws in artisanal-mining permits allowed R$18.4 billion in gold to be moved, Greenpeace says, much from protected and Indigenous lands."
  Source: https://oeco.org.br/noticias/falhas-em-permissoes-de-garimpo-permitiram-movimentar-r-184-bilhoes-em-ouro-diz-greenpeace/

### investigative
- **E&E News (Politico Pro)** (United States, en) — Reports illegal gold mining surging into new parts of Peru's Amazon, from Madre de Dios into Cusco and Puno, driven by record gold prices and enforcement displacement, exposing remote Indigenous communities to mercury poisoning and organised-crime violence.
  > "Illegal gold mining is surging into new parts of Peru's Amazon, threatening rivers, Indigenous communities and lives."
  Source: https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2026/02/24/illegal-gold-mining-surges-into-new-parts-of-perus-amazon-00794633

## Across the graph
- Related: [[lula-2026-reelection-poll-lead]], [[sahel-jihadist-gold-financing-2026]]
- Entities: Illegal Gold, Brazil, Peru, Greenpeace, Mercury

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