A surge in global gold prices has ignited a renewed mining rush within Brazil's Amazon rainforest, leading to an alarming acceleration of deforestation in protected areas and pushing mercury contamination to hazardous levels, according to officials and experts.
A recent study, published by the non-governmental organisation Amazon Conservation in collaboration with Brazilian non-profit Instituto Socioambiental, reveals that illegal mining operations have driven extensive clear-cutting across three conservation zones within the Xingu region.
