Illegal gold mining surges into new parts of Peru’s Amazon, threatening rivers and lives
Mining News | 2026-02-24 01:33:45
Peru’s high commissioner for the fight against illegal mining, Rodolfo García Esquerre, acknowledged as much during a television interview in early February.
By Paul Ploumis
SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Illegal gold mining is spreading into new parts of Peru’s Amazon, advancing along remote rivers and into Indigenous territories as experts warn of a widening environmental and public health crises that could cause irreparable damage.
The surge marks a new phase for one of the Amazon’s most destructive industries, as operations move beyond long-established hot spots into previously untouched regions, environmentalists, researchers and Indigenous leaders told The Associated Press.
The expansion is accelerating deforestation, contaminating rivers with mercury and exposing remote communities to violence and organized crime, even as the government says it is stepping up enforcement.
Illegal mining hits ‘all regions of Peru’
Once largely concentrated in the southern Amazon region of Madre de Dios, the activity is now moving north into regions such as Loreto and Ucayali.
Peru’s high commissioner for the fight against illegal mining, Rodolfo García Esquerre, acknowledged as much during a television interview in early February.
“Unfortunately, we have illegal mining in all regions of Peru,” he said on TVPERU news channel.
Illegal miners strip away forest with bulldozers, carve pits into flood plains and deploy floating dredges that suck up river sediment in search of gold. The process leaves behind pools of stagnant, mercury-laced water and eroded riverbanks, while camps and access roads spread deeper into previously untouched forest.
Peruvian environmental lawyer César Ipenza said the expansion has accelerated in recent years as gold prices surge. Gold has been trading at roughly $2,000 an ounce so far in 2026 — near historic highs and roughly double its price a decade ago.
“Illegal mining has increased considerably,” Ipenza said, pointing to new activity in Huanuco, Pasco, Loreto and along the Ecuador border as higher gold prices make it economically viable to operate in more remote regions.
Julia Urrunaga, Peru program director for the nonprofit Environmental Investigation Agency, said field reports show illegal mining is now appearing in new areas this year, particularly along river systems.
Courtesy: www.wral.com
