Miners dig for gold in Brazil's protected Amazon

Thousands of illegal gold miners head into protected tropical rain forest in the Amazon, searching for gold while adding to deforestation and contaminating the environment with mercury and other toxic chemicals, some of which leaches into the soil and groundwater.

52-year-old Dercilio Franchini and his 64-year-old partner nicknamed Ze Preto, along with several helpers, have been illegally working in a small mine for months in spite of the pandemic.

It's just one of hundreds dotted through the tropical forest, part of a gold rush that started in 1984 after the precious metal was discovered in the region.

After the federal government built federal roadway BR 163 cutting through Para State, miners, loggers and ranchers flooded into the region.

Franchini has been gold mining for over 30 years and makes between $1,000 and $1,500 (USD) a month, far above the average wage of a Brazilian worker.

He believes their footprint is relatively minimal, only about 300 square meters per extraction area and argues the forest miners cut into recovers within one-to-two years,

According to National Mining Agency estimates, around 30 tons of gold worth some 4.5 billion reals ($1.1 billion USD) are illegally traded in the state of Para annually. That is around six times more than the amount legally declared.

Environmental activists say the lure of such metals has encouraged hundreds of illegal mines adding to the growing deforestation in the region and poisoning the land with toxic chemicals and run-off.

Even legal mining is largely unregulated, according to Eco Watch and other activist groups, with those operations tending to be much larger and destructive.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is pushing a bill introduced in February to open more land to mining, including in indigenous areas.

Environmental activists are alarmed by the measure, saying it could lead to exponential growth of already growing deforestation in the region.

According to the Amazon Geo-Referenced Socio-Environmental Information Network, a monitoring group, more than 450 illegal gold mines are active in the rainforest, with thousands of applications pending if the Bolsonaro bill is approved.

Franchini and his partner shrug off the criticism, saying they are small operators just trying to support their families and make a living.

They say exploiting the resources of the rainforest is the only way to feed themselves and their families, and like hundreds of others, they see no other way to prosper in the region.