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Complicity in Destruction website
Gold is used in electrical connections and circuit boards for a multitude of electronic products, including cell phones, laptop and desktop computers, the servers of tech giants, and in electric cars. The biggest companies from this sector, such as Apple, Tesla, Samsung, Microsoft, Intel, Sony, Volkswagen, Ford, and General Motors, are supplied by two refineries under investigation by Brazilian authorities for buying illegal gold mined in Indigenous territories.
Research has shown that upwards of 47% of Brazil’s gold exports could be of illegal origin. Meanwhile, a handful of gold refineries in countries that import the majority of Brazil’s gold also supply the leading consumer-facing brands listed above, implying that their supply chains could be further tainted by this illegal mineral.
The impacts on the Amazon’s highly preserved Indigenous territories – particularly those of the Yanomami, Munduruku and Kayapó peoples – is immeasurable, as wildcat miners scour streams and riverbeds, causing deforestation and polluting critical freshwater resources with sediments and toxic mercury. These activities have driven a spike in deadly illnesses such as malaria and mercury poisoning, and social conflicts such as violence, drug trafficking, the sexual predation of Indigenous women and girls, and murder. As a result of this crisis, Indigenous communities are suffering a multifaceted emergency, as their health, safety, territories, and cultural integrity are under assault.
