US sanctions and a collapsing oil industry are prompting Venezuela to accelerate a push into gold mining, including in protected areas of the Amazon.
The amount of land used for mining has more than tripled since March last year, according to a study by local non-profit Wataniba. Activity is poised to accelerate further after the authorisation in April of new lots in five rivers.
Venezuela already has a thriving illegal gold industry that devastates waterways, forests and indigenous communities and funds violent armed groups. Now authorities are helping supply equipment to set up more formal operations that process gold via a new state facility and sell the metal to the government, said people with knowledge of the matter. Work continues even amid strict lockdowns and fuel shortages in the rest of the country.