The Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) has destroyed 100 hydraulic excavators, 312 stationary engines, and 428 illegal mining camps in the Sararé Indigenous Territory, located in the state of Mato Grosso. The action is part of Operation Xapiri-Sararé, launched on August 1st, and carried out in coordination with Brazil’s Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, Funai, the Federal Police, and other federal security agencies.
In addition to heavy machinery, agents destroyed 50,000 liters of fuel, 42 motorcycles, 9 pickup trucks, 10 trucks, and other equipment used in illegal gold extraction. In surrounding rural properties that served as logistical bases for miners, authorities also seized nearly 13 kilograms of mercury and dismantled clandestine storage sites and repair workshops.
Ibama said the operation was ordered by the judiciary and will continue indefinitely to dismantle criminal infrastructure in the region. Since 2023, nearly 400 excavators have been rendered unusable in the Sararé territory, along with hundreds of engines and tools used in illegal mining.
The Sararé Indigenous Territory, home to the Nambikwara people, has become the most impacted Indigenous area by illegal mining in 2025, with 1,814 alerts registered so far this year. The environmental destruction includes the loss of 743 hectares of native vegetation and mercury contamination of rivers.
Mining boom in the Amazon
Between 2015 and 2024, 58% of all mined land in Brazil was opened, with two-thirds of this expansion occurring in the Amazon. According to the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (Ipam), illegal mining in Indigenous territories grew 361% during this period, now covering 241,000 hectares.
This boom has been driven by deregulatory shifts, rising global gold prices, and increased demand for critical minerals linked to energy transition technologies. The result is an intensification of conflicts in Indigenous lands, quilombola communities, and agrarian reform settlements, accompanied by deforestation, pollution of waterways, and the displacement of traditional populations.
