Its exploitation raises concerns about the environmental impact of using mercury to separate gold. The Serra Pelada gold mine, the largest open-pit artisanal excavation in Brazil’s history, faces significant challenges in resuming its activity as in the past. Disputes between miners, high debt and environmental requirements complicate the realisation of this desire.
In this small village, few places in the Amazon reflect the gold rush, where the community continues to stake its future on mining, despite growing concern among authorities about the polluting impact of this activity, especially when carried out without proper authorisation. The state of Pará, where Serra Pelada is located, faces a dilemma: its economy depends on the extraction of resources, while it prepares to host the next UN climate summit (COP30) in November.
A decisive decision has been made regarding Uber’s operations in the country: this is how it will operate at the country’s airports. ‘We are three metres from the gold,’ Chico Osório tells EFE, staring at the entrance to the clandestine pit he dug with the help of some workers near the old mine.
The vibrant legacy of Serra Pelada
Osório is considered the living history of Serra Pelada, where he arrived in 1982 after hearing about the discovery on the radio. At that time, tens of thousands of people were searching the walls of the mine for gold.
Shovel by shovel, they filled bags with up to fifty kilos of rock, climbed the stairs they called ‘Adiós mamita’ because of their danger, and went to the crusher with the hope of finding something shiny. Today, the more than 150-metre-deep hole of the old mine is filled with water and looks like a tranquil lake. Osório was lucky and extracted almost 700 kilos of gold; he deposited part of it in a bank, invested another part in the purchase of two aeroplanes, and invested the rest in equipment.
The government closed the mine in 1992 for safety reasons and when extraction was already in decline. However, the bank where Osório had his savings went bankrupt, and all that remains of his investments is this pit and some machinery in poor condition: the cable that supports the swing to descend into the tunnel is beginning to fray, and the crusher has just broken down after emitting a loud noise.
What are the strategies for reactivation
The presidency of the organisation is in constant dispute. Deuzita Rodrigues was dismissed by other members of the board shortly after being elected, but she appealed and a judge ruled that she should return to office last August. In addition, the cooperative has accumulated a labour debt of 51 million reais (about 10 million dollars or eight million euros), according to the organisation’s lawyers. For this reason, its licences have been seized pending fulfilment of its obligations.
Like Osório, many of the former miners continue to live in Serra Pelada, and most spend their days at the cooperative’s headquarters playing dominoes and waiting for something to happen. However, tired of waiting, some miners have decided to go it alone and work clandestinely, using techniques that raise concerns about their environmental impact, such as the use of mercury to separate gold, which contaminates aquifers and rivers.
Despite police operations against illegal mining, 65-year-old merchant Carlos Aurélio confesses to EFE that every week he receives an average of 200 grams of nuggets, which he keeps in a small plastic container. It is not the tonnes of the past, but it is proof that the riches have not been exhausted.
