A joint operation by Brazil's Federal Police, the environmental agency Ibama, the conservation unit agency ICMBio and the National Force identified new illegal gold mining sites in Curionópolis and Eldorado dos Carajás, in southeastern Pará state, in the Amazon. Announced on Wednesday (26) as a new phase of Operation Extractio II, the action found illegal extraction taking place even beneath high-voltage transmission lines of the Sistema Interligado Nacional, the grid that carries electricity across Brazil, according to information from the federal agencies reported by G1.
The damage was located while agents mapped new extraction points in the Carajás region on Saturday (22) and Tuesday (25). Teams found excavations, churned soil and large flooded areas on land once covered by forest, and at one site the mining had advanced to the riverbanks. According to the agencies involved, mining under transmission lines is not an isolated case: similar structures have been found at several points across the region.
Rivers that supply local communities
In Curionópolis, inspectors focused on an area along the Rio Novo and Rio Sereno, waterways important to local communities that belong to the Itacaiúnas river basin. Environmental damage caused by mineral extraction was confirmed there. In the rural area of Eldorado dos Carajás, near the Vila 17 de Abril settlement, agents found a large illegal extraction site and improvised structures used by the workers.
The two fronts of the operation shut down most of the mining infrastructure. Agents destroyed 26 stationary engines, two excavators and 12 camps, and rendered about 7,000 liters of diesel unusable. They also seized a firearm, two chainsaws and three motorcycles.
The Carajás region holds one of the world's largest mineral provinces and has faced years of pressure from illegal gold mining, an activity that degrades the Amazon rainforest and contaminates the rivers that sustain riverside communities. According to the federal agencies, the operation aims to contain forest degradation and stop the activity from further damaging streams and rivers in the Itacaiúnas basin. Monitoring continues at other points across the Carajás territory.
So far, the available information comes from the assessment released by the federal agencies and reported by G1, the only source located on the case. There is no confirmation of arrests or an official estimate of the volume of gold extracted from the dismantled sites.