The Amazon rainforest has been plundered for decades for rubber, timber and gold. Now, seeking a new treasure, illegal prospectors are setting their sights on the critical minerals coveted by much of the world.<\/p>\n
A new frontier of criminality is emerging in the Brazilian Amazon, the authorities and experts say, with global demand for these minerals \u2014 used in many key products, like electric vehicles and fighter jets \u2014 setting off a rush of illicit mining in one of the planet\u2019s most important ecosystems.<\/p>\n
This comes as the United States and other countries increasingly look to Brazil<\/a>, home to some of the world\u2019s largest deposits of critical minerals, to loosen China\u2019s grip on these strategic resources,<\/a> which are needed to power many technologies of the future.<\/p>\n The rush for critical minerals adds to the decades-long exploitation of the Amazon for valuable commodities, intensifying the threats facing a vast, biodiverse region that plays a crucial role in efforts to slow global warming.<\/p>\n Brazilian authorities say that among the critical minerals being mined illegally in the Amazon are rare earths, a group of 17 elements that are especially important because they are needed to make powerful magnets used in a vast array of products, from drones to guided missiles.<\/p>\n The global critical minerals market, driven by the energy transition, is valued at more than $300 billion and is projected to more than double by 2035, according to the International Energy Agency.<\/p>\n \u201cThe demand is very strong, and only growing\u201d Humberto Freire de Barros, Amazon director for Brazil\u2019s federal police, told The New York Times.<\/p>\n He declined to specify the rare earth minerals targeted by miners or the criminal groups involved in the scheme, citing an open police investigation. After being extracted from the Amazon, the rare earth minerals are sold on the domestic market or smuggled on container ships to Asia and Europe for processing, Mr. Barros said.<\/p>\n Unlike gold, which is often extracted in the Amazon by small-scale miners, critical minerals are dug up illegally by larger mining companies, according to Mr. Barros. \u201cWhat we are seeing is not artisanal mining,\u201d he said. \u201cThese are almost industrial-scale operations.\u201d<\/p>\n A supply chain of illegality<\/p>\n While rare earths are abundant in the Earth\u2019s crust, they are difficult to extract, separate and refine. Illegal miners often pull up large quantities of soil mixed with minerals, the authorities say, and ship the raw material to China, which dominates refining<\/a>.<\/p>\n The authorities have already made major arrests<\/a> involving the illicit expropriation of other critical minerals, including manganese, which is used in electric vehicle batteries.<\/p>\n The police in January arrested a man, froze $5 million in assets, and seized a helicopter in relation to a scheme that involved mining manganese illegally in the Amazonian state of Par\u00e1 and shipping it to China with the help of falsified paperwork.<\/p>\n Similar to other contraband, the illegal supply chain around critical minerals is extensive, spanning across business, government and organized crime, Brazilian authorities say.<\/p>\n Beyond the miners themselves, companies and individuals provide a legal front by laundering the minerals. Government officials sometimes issue mining licenses without assessing environmental risks. Drug gangs transport concealed minerals. Customs agents are bribed into turning a blind eye to illicit exports. Ultimately, overseas customers buy the illegal material.<\/p>\n Brazil is believed to hold the world\u2019s second largest reserves of rare earths, as well as huge quantities of other critical minerals like niobium, lithium and cobalt. Brazil wants to become a global leader in critical minerals, but is still years away from turning its reserves into major exports.<\/p>\n To dig for minerals in Brazil, companies must get permission from the national mining agency, then submit plans to state and federal environmental authorities for a lengthy review that can take months or even years.<\/p>\n But the process is not immune to wrongdoing. Last year, Brazilian police arrested dozens of people, including a top official at the national mining agency, in a corruption scheme<\/a> that the authorities said involved paying bribes to federal and state officials in exchange for fraudulent iron ore mining licenses.<\/p>\n Smuggling routes for gold, cocaine \u2014 and minerals<\/p>\n In the Amazon, critical minerals are mined and moved in much the same way as other smuggled goods. They are extracted from areas deep in the forest, some where mining is strictly prohibited, Brazilian authorities and experts say. Then, they are transported via land, river and air routes criminal gangs also use to move gold and cocaine.<\/p>\n Once the minerals reach seaports, customs agents are sometimes shown falsified certificates claiming they were extracted from legitimate mines operating with the government\u2019s authorization, according to R\u00f4mulo Pereira Brand\u00e3o Neto, a customs agent with the Brazilian Federal Revenue Agency.<\/p>\n But those mines are not always real. In one case, when Mr. Neto checked satellite images of the area, he found there was no mine there at all. \u201cIt\u2019s a ghost mine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In other cases, smugglers try to bypass scrutiny by mixing the cargo or mislabeling it as something else, like iron ore, Mr. Neto added, which experts say bears geological resemblance to some critical minerals.<\/p>\n \u201cThese bags of stuff are showing up on barges, no one really knows what the hell it is,\u201d said Robert Muggah, an expert on illegal activity in the Amazon and research director of Igarap\u00e9 Institute, a research organization.<\/p>\n At busy seaports where thousands of containers pass each day, the authorities are often equipped with tools and expertise designed to spot hidden cocaine, but not illegal minerals, Mr. Muggah added. And with no way to quickly test the chemical composition, border agents often struggle to verify the contents of containers sneaking critical minerals out of Brazil.<\/p>\n \u201cSo they\u2019re told to wave it through,\u201d Mr. Muggah said. \u201cAnd by the time they figure it out, it\u2019s long gone.\u201d<\/p>\n Rare earths in a rare ecosystem<\/p>\n Brazil is believed to hold 19 to 23 percent of global reserves of rare earths, second only to China. It is also home to virtually all of the world\u2019s niobium, a mineral used in high-strength and low-weight steel needed for gas pipelines or jet engines.<\/p>\n Brazil may have much more of value underground. Only about 30 percent of the country\u2019s critical minerals have been mapped in detail, according to the Geological Survey of Brazil. That figure is even lower in the Amazon, where a dense rainforest canopy makes mapping more difficult.<\/p>\n Brazil, the United States and other nations are seeking to reduce their reliance on China, which controls much of the extraction and processing of elements<\/a> and has been willing to withhold them<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now, the rise of illicit mining may complicate ambitious plans being charted by both Brazil as it seeks to build a supply chain for raw critical minerals, and the United States, which has made an aggressive bid<\/a> for access to the South American nation\u2019s reserves<\/p>\n And this novel frontier of criminality also threatens to intensify a rush for resources in the Amazon, where record-high gold<\/a> and oil prices are already acting as an incentive for extraction deeper in the rainforest.<\/p>\n