março, 31 2025

By WWF-Brazil

In a landmark decision, the majority of the justices of the Brazilian Supreme Court ruled the presumption of good faith in the purchase and sale of gold in Brazil unconstitutional. This decision marks a crucial step forward in curbing illegal mining, especially in the Amazon, where the activity has caused devastating environmental impacts and violated the rights of indigenous and riverside communities, even reaching cities through the contamination of fish that spread across the region.

The court's decision rectifies a serious distortion in current legislation, which allowed buyers of the metal, such as Securities and Exchange Commissions, to accept only the miner's self-declaration regarding the origin of the gold, absolving them of any liability if the extraction was illegal. The presumption of good faith in the gold chain had been used as a legal loophole to legitimise the sale of gold extracted through criminal means, including gold taken from Indigenous Lands and Protected Areas. The ruling’s unconstitutionality and the subsequent ban on using this loophole strengthens oversight, protects communities affected by illegal mining, and reduces the funding of criminal networks exploiting this market.

The presumption of good faith had already been suspended by an injunction issued by Justice Gilmar Mendes in April 2023. Now, with the final decision, Brazil is taking a decisive step forward in combating environmental degradation caused by illegal mining, while also preventing criminal organisations from continuing to profit from the unlawful exploitation of these areas.

The impacts of illegal mining go far beyond environmental degradation. The indiscriminate use of mercury in mining jeopardises the quality of water and the lives of the populations in the region. A study by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) in the Sawré Muybu Indigenous Land, home to the Munduruku people, found mercury levels in fish consumed by residents above the tolerable limit, exposing local populations, including children, to severe contamination risks. In Santarém (Pará), a survey by the Federal University of Western Pará (UFOPA) revealed that 75.6% of those tested had mercury levels exceeding the World Health Organization’s safety threshold. Mercury contamination causes neurological issues and affects the respiratory, cardiovascular, and reproductive systems, resulting in irreversible damage

The Court's decision is a vital step in addressing the socio-environmental crisis caused by the illegal mining of minerals, and the environmental and financial crimes linked to the gold trade in Brazil. This decision is not just an environmental matter but also a matter of social and economic justice, protecting vulnerable communities and reinforcing the country's commitment to a sustainable development model,” says Ariene Cerqueira, a public policy analyst at WWF-Brazil.

WWF-Brazil has been working to combat and create technologies for tracking illegality in the gold trade, and was one of the organisations that supported the case before the Supreme Court. On February 16, 2023, the Federal Public Defender's Office, WWF-Brazil, the Alana Institute, and the Socio Environmental Institute filed an amicus curiae brief with the Supreme Court in the Direct Action of Unconstitutionality challenging the presumption of good faith in the gold trade.

Data provided by WWF-Brazil to the Supreme Court on this occasion indicated alarming rates of illegality in gold production in the country. Approximately 75% of the area mined in the Tapajós River Basin—one of Brazil’s main gold-producing regions—lacked authorisation from the National Mining Agency. In the municipalities of Itaituba and Jacareacanga, which together account for over 35% of the gold mining area in Brazil, illegal activity rates reach 90% and 98%, respectively. The illegally mined gold from these areas enters the national production chain, being purchased by financial institutions that, under the presumption of good faith, were not required to prove its origin.

In 2024, WWF-Brazil launched the first digital platform to compile official data from various government agencies on legal gold extraction in the country. The Gold Transparency Portal aims to assist the government in improving transparency in the processes of producing, buying, and selling gold in areas granted for prospecting or mining concessions.

The Supreme Court's ruling strengthens control over this activity and is expected to foster the development of effective mechanisms to track and certify the origin of gold sold in the country. Monitoring is crucial for the ruling to have a practical effect in curbing illegal gold mining, which devastates and endangers communities that depend on forests for survival. Responsibility now lies with other levels and instances of government, which are tasked with enforcing the decision.
About WWF-Brazil

WWF-Brazil is a Brazilian NGO that has been working collectively with partners from civil society, universities, governments and companies throughout the country for 28 years to tackle socio-environmental degradation and defend the lives of people and nature. We are connected in an interdependent network that seeks urgent solutions to the climate emergency.