It all revolves around trading gold. The bulldozer sale is a success and the miners are revered. Welcome to Itaituba, better known as “nugget city”, the main market of illegal gold of the brazilian amazon.
Mining is the engine of this apparently calm municipality bathed by the waters of the Tapajós River, in the state of Pará, and surrounded by natural parks that the Chico Mendes Institute (ICMBio), a body linked to the Government, preserves in a hostile environment.
History tells that gold mining in Itaituba dates back to colonial times, but the real “boom” was in the 70s and 80s of the last century, when it reached an annual production of between 15 and 30 tons, according to the Town hall.
Years later, many of the conservation units that today surround the town and protect ten million hectares of native vegetation were created, which did not stop gold diggers from continuing to bore holes in the jungle and drown it in mercury.
The use of construction machinery, with the capacity to destroy large areas in a few days, and the speech in favor of mining during the four years of the Government of Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022) have led this rich region into a cycle of alarming destruction.
High rates of deforestation
Today, around 70% of all deforestation reported in the 334 conservation units managed by ICMBio throughout Brazil occurs in the twelve located in the western zone of Pará, where Itaituba is located, according to official calculations.
“In general, most of the mining that is being done here is being done illegally,” Carla Michelle Lessa, an environmental analyst and ICMBio chief of staff, told EFE.
The whole city is aimed at promoting mining. Bulldozer shops are disproportionate for this township of 100,000. There are numerous establishments that buy gold and jewelry, as well as the high concentration of key companies in the sector.
There are roadside advertisements that openly offer “internet for garimpo” (mineral exploitation), with “speed, stability and security”.
A statue of a gold prospector with his pan welcomes tourists on the river promenade.
“They’re going to tear it down, huh?”asks a neighbor sarcastically while an EFE team observes the monument, accompanied by members of ICMBio.
Hostility towards environmental prosecutors
Environmental agents are not usually well regarded by the local population. They call them “demons” and it is common to see locals point their cell phones at them to record them as they move through the city with the official vehicle.
These images end up in the WhatsApp groups of miners and serve as a warning sign for possible operations.
These days, the population seems even more distrustful. The government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has launched two vast operations against illegal miners, one on Yanomami indigenous land and another around Itaituba.
The city was the target of another operation by the Federal Police on Wednesday to dismantle a “large criminal organization of gold smuggling.”
Among the companies investigated is one based in the United States that irregularly exported gold to Italy, Switzerland, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.
“Low-ranking companies received illegal gold, illegal invoices, and issued new invoices giving the appearance of legality to the gold, which passed to larger companies that were at the top of the triangle” of the plot, Vinícius Serpa, the commissioner in charge of the case, told journalists.
How to “heat” gold
And it is that to commercialize the gold extracted in an irregular way, first it is necessary to give it a veneer of legality that is achieved through false declarations of origin, lack of supervision and the blind eye, intentional or not, of the buyers.
This is what in Brazil is called “heating” the gold.
A study by the Federal University of Minas Gerais estimates that 30% of the 158 tons of gold produced in Brazil between January 2021 and June 2022 have indications of illegal or potentially illegal origin.
The report indicates that Itaituba occupies the first place of the municipalities that concentrate the largest volume of illegal gold, reinforcing suspicions that it is the main nucleus of “laundering” the metal in the country.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the gold chain in the area is contaminated by gangs that promote “all types of crime, threats and violence against vulnerable populations”.
Itaituba, on the other hand, is proud of its mining past and present. Its mayor, Valmir Climaco, was sentenced in 2019 for deforesting 746 hectares of native vegetation in a preserved area of the Amazon. In 2020 he was re-elected.
(With information from EFE)
Source: Gestion
Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
