International Institute for Strategic Studies

Illicit gold mining sits at the intersection of multiple, mutually reinforcing security threats in the Amazon. The Amazon presents an especially complex risk environment, given the nexus between its acute exposure to environmental degradation and its rich endowment in natural resources. These challenges are compounded by the Amazon’s strategic position along drug-trafficking routes from South America to Europe, which increasingly attracts transnational organised criminal groups. The latest IISS research analyses efforts to counter illicit mining in the Brazilian Amazon. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/enajh8_z

Gold exports were legalised in Myanmar in 2018, with shipments made to Japan and South Korea, but they effectively stopped in 2020. That year, the government introduced stricter payment rules that were meant to counter money laundering, but which proved too impractical for exporters to comply with. Meanwhile, large volumes of gold from Myanmar are being smuggled to India and increasingly to China, where it is accepted as a legal import despite the absence of recorded exports in Myanmar. The latest IISS research analyses how conflict has shaped Myanmar’s gold supply chain. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/e45y73EB

Myanmar’s military-backed regime has sought to restrict several sources of revenue used by its opponents, including public donations and the alleged smuggling of goods from Thailand. It has also conducted airstrikes against dozens of opposition-held gold mines but on the ground, the regime has done little to stop the flow of fuel and equipment to mining sites or the flow of mined gold to major cities. The regime's failure to clamp down is partly explained by corruption. The latest IISS research analyses how conflict has shaped Myanmar’s gold supply chain. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/e45y73EB

Gold deposits are widely distributed in Myanmar across at least five mineral belts. These span Kachin and Shan states in the north, Sagaing and Mandalay regions in central Myanmar, and Kayin and Mon states in the southeast, with some deposits scattered elsewhere. However, gold mining in Myanmar has lacked the investment and expertise, or the right policy and regulatory framework, to fulfil its geological potential. The latest IISS research analyses how conflict has shaped Myanmar’s gold supply chain. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/e45y73EB

Illicit mining in the Amazon is increasingly intertwined with organised crime. The region’s remoteness, porous borders and limited state presence, compounded by weak enforcement and judicial capacity, reduce operational risks for criminal groups. Many already have established presence in the Amazon basin, reflecting its growing strategic importance within drug-trafficking routes. The growing nexus between illicit gold mining and criminal networks adds further complexity to an already multilayered security crisis in the region. The latest IISS research analyses efforts to counter illicit mining in the Brazilian Amazon. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/enajh8_z

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM), known in Brazil as Garimpo, is a major driver of mercury pollution in the Amazon basin. Despite Brazil’s ratification of the 2013 Minamata Convention and its 2016 ban on mercury imports, illicit mercury continues to reach the country through international trafficking routes, including from India, Mexico and Tajikistan, as well as through blind spots in South America such as Bolivia and Guyana. These flows continue to supply garimpo mining and contribute to widespread mercury pollution. The latest IISS research analyses efforts to counter illicit mining in the Brazilian Amazon. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/enajh8_z