Mining Out of the Amazon

Indigenous rights, not mining rights

The Amazon rainforest sits atop vast reserves of critical minerals – from copper to rare earth elements – drawing intense interest from the global mining industry. Yet, mining is a deadly threat to the forest and its Indigenous peoples, contaminating water sources, driving deforestation, and fueling human rights abuses. This crisis is escalating, driven by the global transition to “green” energy technologies and soaring gold prices.

Amazon Watch stands with Indigenous peoples calling for the Amazon to be a no-go zone for mining. We combine grassroots support for Indigenous resistance with high-level advocacy targeting corporate, financial, and political actors around the world. These efforts aim to break the grip of extractivism that endangers the Amazon and build a future grounded in Indigenous rights and climate justice.

Campaign goals

• Large-scale mining projects and illegal gold mining are halted on Indigenous territories
• Investors and banks are pressured to stop funding destructive mining projects
• Companies and governments are held accountable for human rights abuses and environmental harm

Recent highlights

• Challenging Belo Sun’s mega-mine in Brazil: With local communities, working to halt Canadian company Belo Sun’s plans to build one of Brazil’s largest open-pit gold mines in the Volta Grande do Xingu, a region already devastated by the Belo Monte dam and critical to both biodiversity and Indigenous survival.
• Stopping open-pit mining in Mocoa, Colombia: Supporting Indigenous and urban communities in Putumayo working to halt plans for open-pit copper mining in the upper Mocoa River basin, which threaten to destabilize a vulnerable ecosystem that includes protected forest reserve land and overlaps multiple Indigenous territories. 
• Confronting Solaris Resources in Ecuador: Working alongside Indigenous Shuar Arutam communities to challenge Canadian mining company Solaris Resources, whose operations threaten ancestral territories and fragile ecosystems in the Cordillera del Cóndor region, while pressuring financiers to divest and respect Indigenous opposition.