Technology, Science Can Combat Illegal Gold Mining In Brazil
Much of the gold production in Brazil has levels of illegality. Data from Instituto Escolhas show that about 50% of the gold traded (229 tons) in the period from 2015 to 2020 was illegal. In addition, illegal mining has expanded its operations in indigenous territories by five times. Given this scenario, USP and the Brazilian Mining Institute (Ibram) signed a partnership to reinforce the fight against illegal gold mining in Brazil.
Professor at the Department of Mining and Petroleum Engineering at the Escola Politécnica and director of NAP-Mineração Giorgio De Tomi comments on the project’s objectives: “Our idea is to drive the transformation of this sector to meet society’s demands, because mining it is part of the challenges of the energy transition that we want for the second half of this century and all the measures to control climate change. So, this type of strategic partnership between Ibram and USP will help to have new approaches so that we can contribute to this transformation and make this sector act responsibly”.
Assistance in mining activities
In the Amazon region, the action of small and medium-sized mining companies is strong. For De Tomi, it is necessary to articulate work actions with these bodies: “In terms of number of mining titles, medium and small mining have more than 90% of the minerals. They form a very important universe of the Brazilian mineral sector, so achieving this transformation working with technology and working with support is one of the paths that we believe will make a difference. It’s not just offering technology, but it’s helping people, working with them to help make this technology work for the specific problem of each region, of each type of mining”.
Responsible purchasing platform
In addition to changing the way minerals are exploited, the partnership will seek to intercept illegal sales through a gold purchase platform. “The idea is to be able to verify, certify the origin of this gold to be able to give the buyer security at the time of the transaction, that this gold comes from a suitable source. This platform allows the gold buyer, at the time of the first transaction, when the gold comes out of the mineral and becomes a financial asset that enters the market, to verify the origin, to find out if it is an active mining title, if it has a known origin and plus a series of analyzes that are carried out through the platform to give the buyer peace of mind that the gold comes from a responsible source.”
The platform starts with the sale of gold, but can be expanded to other metals: “The success we are seeing in this first phase of disclosure is a very positive acceptance by the various bodies with which we spoke, whether it be a Public Ministry , be it different government ministries and other bodies that are receiving the tool in a very positive way, because it is simple, but it is powerful. It gives decision-making power when buying gold. So, the success that we followed with the case of gold, we are very positive about the expansion to other commodities and using this for other forms of mining and for other mineral substances in the Brazilian Amazon”, says De Tomi.