Illegal gold from the Amazon to Big Tech, also accused an Italian company
With Bolsonaro, illegal gold mining in Brazil has increased
(Sustainabilityenvironment.com) – There would be illegal gold from Amazon in products sold by Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Apple. It comes from two suppliers, one Brazilian and one Italian. These would be Brazilian Marsam and Chimet, a company that deals with the recovery and refining of precious metals from industrial waste materials. This is the hypothesis that the Brazilian federal police are working on.
This is revealed by the Reuters agency on the basis of documents of the South American country police which has come into possession through Reporter Brasil. According to Brazilian officials, in 2020 and 2021 Chimet purchased millions of dollars of illegal gold from a local dealer, CHM do Brasil. That he would get it from the underground mines in the Amazon basin, especially those on the indigenous lands of Kayapò. According to the law of the country, any mining activity on indigenous lands is illegal.
“Although the Brazilian investigative bodies have evidence that Chimet and Marsam indirectly purchased gold extracted illegally from some of these territories, the two refiners are certified and considered “eligible” for sale in the United States and Europe”, explains Reporter Brasil.
Have there not been sufficient checks upstream? According to the Brazilian newspaper, the key issue is the body that certifies the origin of the metal. In the case of Chimet is the LBMA (The London Bullion Market Association), while for Marsam is the RMI (Responsible Minerals Initiative). “One of the problems is that, despite the violence caused by illegal mines in the Amazon, these organizations do not consider Brazil an “at-risk area”, explains Reporter Brasil.
In the case of Chimet, the purchase of illegal gold would have taken place through two Italians, Giacomo Dogi and his father Mauro Dogi, residing in Brazil and owners of the CHM do Brasil. The first was arrested by the Brazilian police last October, the second is investigated for participation in a criminal organization that deals with clandestinely extracting gold from Kayapò.
