Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Mining · Brazil · 2018–2022

Brazil reports 570 Yanomami child deaths amid illegal gold mining

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 2 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

A Brazilian minister reported 570 Yanomami child deaths in 2019 to 2022, attributed to mercury, malaria and malnutrition. Congresso em Foco, citing monitoring by the Hutukara Yanomami Association, reported that illegal mining on Yanomami land grew 54% in 2022.

What?
Illegal gold mining on Yanomami land was reported to have grown sharply, while a minister reported 570 child deaths from 2019 to 2022. Jornal de Brasília
Where?
Yanomami Indigenous land, Brazil. The sources reviewed do not give the state.
When?
Child deaths reported for 2019 to 2022 (Jornal de Brasília, January 2023). Mining growth reported for 2018 to 2022. Jornal de Brasília
Who?
Gained
  • Illegal gold miners — Mined area on Yanomami land rose 309% from 2018 to 2022, per Congresso em Foco Congresso em Foco
Lost
None on record
Harmed
  • Yanomami children — 570 deaths in 2019 to 2022, per a minister, from mercury, malaria and malnutrition Jornal de Brasília
  • Yanomami villages near mining sites — 84% of hair samples above the mercury threshold; highest values in villages nearest the mines (Fiocruz and ISA, 2024)
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Illegal gold mining on Indigenous land; mercury exposure reported in hair samples from villages near the mines.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Jornal de Brasília reported that a Brazilian minister said 570 Yanomami children died between 2019 and 2022, from causes including mercury, malaria and malnutrition.

Congresso em Foco reported, citing monitoring by the Hutukara Yanomami Association, that illegal mining on Yanomami land grew 54% in 2022 and that the mined area rose 309% from 2018 to 2022.

Fiocruz and the Instituto Socioambiental reported in 2024 that 84% of 287 hair samples from nine villages surrounded by illegal mining had mercury above 2.0 µg/g.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: more than 20,000 illegal gold miners entered Yanomami land in 2021 to 2023.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: 3,272 hectares were mined in 2021, a 46% increase, and 327 mining camps were dismantled.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not say who is responsible for the child deaths or whether any prosecutions followed.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    1. Yanomami: illegal mining and child deaths
      Jornal de Brasília · 2023-01
    Terms used on this page

    Science and environment

    Hectare (ha)
    A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.
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