Why is the Yanomami land so interesting to prospectors

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The Yanomami territory, divided between northwest Roraima and northern Amazonas, is a place of superlatives. With an area of ​​9.6 million hectares (equivalent to the state of Santa Catarina), it is home to more than 28,000 indigenous people, who are spread over 371 communities.

Furthermore, it is a potential source of valuable minerals for the industry, which raises the threat of mining to the largest indigenous land (TI) in Brazil. In “geologês”, the area where the Yanomami territory is located is called the belt of green rocks.

“These are older lands, where metals such as gold, copper, zinc, nickel, platinum and a series of other important metals, which are used in the electronics and energy transition industry, usually occur”, explains Marcelo Almeida, head of the resources department minerals from the Geological Survey of Brazil (CPRM), linked to the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

If, in theory, the region can harbor this mineral diversity, in practice, however, there is a lack of studies that describe the geology of the Amazon more precisely, says Almeida.

“From the point of view of mineral research, there is nothing more detailed to say that there are important and economically viable mineral deposits in the Yanomami land”, he says.

Still, with the appreciation of gold that has taken place in recent years, this illegal, near-dark gamble could end up paying off. The metal is so well quoted on the market that, even if it’s a trial and error search, when gold is found, it ends up paying for the previous frustrated operations.

“For prospectors, the return is much more immediate with gold. With this new rush [do ouro]is offsetting the risk they run”, he says.

In addition to gold, the Yanomami territory is also targeted for the extraction of cassiterite, mainly in deposits in the Serra dos Surucucus, in the north of Roraima. Tin is extracted from this ore, used in the manufacture of tinplate, which is widely used in industry — from the production of cans to the finishing of cars.

The researcher points out, however, that the added value of cassiterite is lower than that of gold, since there is a lot of competition from other market agents that operate in legalized places with easier access.

Today, the ANM (National Mining Agency) has 503 requests for mining on Yanomami land. They correspond to an area of ​​3.6 million hectares, equivalent to 38% of the territory.

The data are from the Amazônia Minada platform, from the Infoamazonia portal, which analyzes ANM data and maps the mining processes that overlap or are adjacent to indigenous lands and conservation units in the biome.

Mining in these protected areas is prohibited by law. Thus, these processes are opened by those who hope that the legislation will change. With that, Almeida explains, they could be among the first to start prospecting research in these places.

According to ANM, there are more than 7,000 mining processes with mining authorization in the Legal Amazon, which corresponds to an area of ​​about 4 million hectares.

“Of these processes, most are for the extraction of aggregates for civil construction and gold. There is also a significant amount of concessions for tin and limestone”, says the agency in a note.

The Planeta em Transe project is supported by the Open Society Foundations.

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