Inside Brazil's war on illegal gold mining in the Amazon

Deep in the Brazilian Amazon, a makeshift brothel at the heart of Vila Cururu — an illegal gold-mining encampment — stood until recently as a symbol of lawless extraction. Prospectors drank whiskey and watched pole dancers before retreating to shacks behind the bordello. Today, the settlement is rubble, razed by Brazilian security forces in a campaign to fulfill President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's pledge to eradicate illegal mining on Indigenous lands.

The Fight Against Illegal Mining

The raid in late March was part of a broader “disintrusion” drive led by Nilton Tubino, Lula's point man for evicting miners. Tubino and his team launched a land-and-air assault on Vila Cururu and surrounding mines, forcing prospectors to flee into the forests. The operation targeted the Sararé Indigenous territory, a Singapore-sized area near the Bolivian border that has lost 4% of its forests between January 2024 and August 2025 — about 17.3 square miles destroyed, nearly half the size of Manhattan.

“It’s total devastation,” Tubino said, hiking through the charred ruins of Garimpo Quatro, one of Sararé’s largest mines. He wore fatigues and carried a machete, with radios strapped to his belt, as he surveyed the environmental carnage. The destruction has been particularly intense here, even compared to larger territories like the Yanomami, because of a paradox: Lula’s success in cracking down on mining in the Yanomami area pushed many miners south to Sararé, where they hoped to continue operating beyond the reach of authorities.

The Role of Global Gold Prices

The gold rush in Sararé has been supercharged by record-high gold prices, driven partly by global instability under U.S. President Donald Trump’s erratic foreign policy. Tubino noted a direct link: “The price of gold, this crazy global context, Trump, these things … [have a direct impact] all across the Amazon.” As investors seek safe havens, gold prices have soared, making illegal mining even more lucrative and destructive.

The result is visible from the air. During a helicopter tour — the only foreign media granted access, by The Guardian — the extent of the damage unfolded below: endless brown gashes carved into once-green savanna and woodland, dotted with stagnant pools of bronze-colored water contaminated with mercury. Miners use mercury in giant sluice boxes to separate gold, leaving toxic residues that poison the ecosystem and the 200 or so Nambiquara people who live in the territory.

A Glimpse of the Devastation

At Vila Cururu, named after a local bird, the destruction was comprehensive. The brothel and surrounding shacks were flattened, remnants of a settlement that had teemed with intruders using pickaxes and explosives to burrow into hillsides. Jackson Katitãurlu, a Nambiquara leader whose village lies a few miles away, lamented: “They wiped out everything. They destroyed nature.” The scale of the illegal mining operation was astonishing, supported by a network of suppliers and buyers that federal forces are struggling to dismantle.

Tubino acknowledged that the fight is far from over. While the raid cleared Vila Cururu and several mines, the miners may regroup elsewhere. The government needs sustained funding, intelligence, and on-the-ground presence to prevent a resurgence. The global demand for gold, coupled with weak governance in parts of the Amazon, creates a persistent challenge.

As Lula’s administration pushes forward, the future of Sararé and other territories hangs in the balance. The success of the disintrusion campaign will depend not only on law enforcement but also on addressing the economic drivers that make illegal mining so attractive. For now, the charred ground of Vila Cururu stands as a testament to both the government’s resolve and the immense difficulty of protecting the Amazon from the lure of gold.