MPF takes legal action against the National Mining Agency for illegal gold extraction

According to the action, the Mining Permit (PLG) regime, used to authorize small-scale mineral exploration, has been used to “wash gold” extracted from Protected Areas, giving it the appearance of legality. Despite repeated reports of fraud in PLGs, the ANM has not yet adopted effective measures to reinforce supervision and ensure the legality of its processes.

Based on a survey by Greenpeace Brasil and an audit by the Federal Audit Court (TCU), the MPF identified irregularities in 98 PLGs in the states of Pará, Mato Grosso and Rondônia. Controlled by just 20 holders, these licenses were used to declare the extraction of 25.3 tons of gold, and the suspected permissions alone account for 97% of all gold declared in the set of 187 processes analyzed.

The MPF identified three main ANM flaws that facilitate fraud in granting permissions. First, the absence of clear rules regarding the scientific and technical criteria to define when an area can receive this type of permission. Second, the existence of “ghost mines”: areas with active permission that declare large volumes of gold, including payment of the Financial Compensation for the Exploration of Mineral Resources (CFEM), but which do not correspond to the actual mining production. And, third, the so-called “permission slicing” by large economic groups, used to circumvent environmental licensing requirements through several small permissions in neighboring areas.

"The mining permit no longer serves the small prospector and, in many cases, has become a cover for laundering gold extracted by criminal organizations in Indigenous Lands and Environmental Protection Areas. Without clear rules and without oversight by the agency, the crime takes on the appearance of legality, and the forest is the one paying the bill, the rivers contaminated by mercury and the communities that become ill", said Public Prosecutor André Porreca, responsible for the action.

In the judicial process, the MPF requires the ANM to create a technical working group within 30 days to restructure the PLGs regime. In addition to establishing within 60 days a national program to reevaluate and precautionarily suspend all permits that registered CFEM without presenting physical evidence of compatible mineral exploration.

g1, O Globo and Portal Amazônia, among others, shared the news.