Brazil: Forever Informal

Abstract

ASGM, or garimpagem in Portuguese, is mostly informal in Brazil. Nevertheless, it is the dominant form of gold mining, with strong historical, cultural and economic roots and permanence, principally in contemporary Amazonia. Informal gold mining in Brazil should not be understood as merely a systemic response to the withdrawal of industrial mining companies or territorial obstacles to expansion. It developed independent from large-scale mining, as an economic, social and cultural embedded model of mineral extraction. It is the oldest and most flexible form of gold mining that was meaningful and workable under different political winds and economic waves from colonial times to the twenty-first century. In this chapter, the historical development of small-scale mining in Brazil that explains why garimpo is a culturally resistant and economically relevant mining is discussed. Then the informality and the ambiguous role of the state and industrial mining concerning the informality of garimpo is examined. Finally, the territorial dynamics, regulations and the importance of technology, as critical factors in today’s mining crystallizations, are assessed.