Photos: Brazil’s Amazon rainforest besieged by illegal mining

Brazil is home to 453 illegal mines in its share of the Amazon. Advocacy group Instituto Socioambiental has been mapping all illegal mines in the Amazon rainforest that sprawls across Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia. The first-ever attempt to map all of the region's illegal mines has recorded 2,500 such operations across six Amazon countries. Raids last month targeted several illegal mines in two national parks in Brazil. While the battle was won, a study which released the figures above, indicates the war is far from over.

Updated on: Dec 13, 2018 9:50 AM IST

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An illegal cassiterite mine is seen in national parks near Novo Progresso, southeast of Para state, Brazil. Environmental enforcement agents deep in the Amazon, swooped down on an illegal mine in a dawn raid in early November, in a campaign to tamp down on such activities that environmental groups say have reached epidemic scale. (Ricardo Moraes / REUTERS)

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A miner runs away from an illegal cassiterite mine. As government helicopters descended along stagnant pools ravaged by miners, many fled deep into the rainforest. The operation was carried out against a handful of what are now known to be hundreds of illegal Amazon mines in Brazil that have been catalogued for the first time in a study released on Monday. (Ricardo Moraes / REUTERS)

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Shortly after, half a dozen were apprehended for questioning by camouflaged agents bearing machine guns. The project, coordinated by Brazilian advocacy group Instituto Socioambiental, maps all illegal mines in the Amazon rainforest that sprawls across Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia. (Ricardo Moraes / REUTERS)

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Miners briefly detained and questioned at an illegal gold mine. The real target is not the muddy and often barefoot miners, who work in slave-like conditions for unknown local strongmen, according to agents of Brazil’s environmental agency Ibama. (Ricardo Moraes / REUTERS)

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Ibama said its primary target is the excavators and other heavy machinery that is expensive and harder to replace. Unable to haul away the machines, the agents set fire to them, sending black plumes of smoke hundreds of feet into the air. (Ricardo Moraes / REUTERS)

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The raids last month targeted several illegal mines in two national parks in Brazil’s Amazon. This week’s study indicates the war is far from over. Brazil is home to 453 illegal Amazon mines, according to a mapping project as part of the Amazon Socio-environmental, Geo-referenced Information Project, a joint initiative between Instituto Socioambiental and other environmental groups. (Ricardo Moraes / REUTERS)

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An improvised kitchen is seen at a miners’ camp at an illegal gold mine. The first-ever attempt to map all of the region’s illegal mines recorded 2,500 such operations across six Amazon countries, said coordinator Alicia Rolla. One aim of the project is to call attention to the “epidemic” scale of illegal mining, which pollutes local communities’ water with mercury and contributes to deforestation. (Ricardo Moraes / REUTERS)

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A policeman observes an illegal gold mine. Rolla said she hopes environmental agencies will use it as a tool to help police the mines. “The studies show that illegal mining is increasing a lot,” Rolla said. “I think the government needs to be more worried about giving Ibama more resources to do their job.” (Ricardo Moraes / REUTERS)