Despite the reactivation of control barriers and the suspension by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) of Law 1,453/2021, known as the "mining law", authored by the government of Roraima, illegal mining is advancing in the Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Land, indigenous leaders from the Raposa region denounced to the Indigenous Council of Roraima (CIR).
The leaders stated that there was a significant increase in the flow of people in the region, as well as sheds covered with tarpaulins in Serra do Atola, located in the Raposa II community, municipality of Normandia. In view of the complaints, the legal counsel of the CIR will call the Federal Public Ministry and Ibama.
According to reports, the number of miners in the region may exceed a thousand people. They are divided into three areas, and each of them has a leader who controls the miners who arrive and leave. The space is still divided into lots to later be sold to new people who arrive at the site. There is a bar and a market that serve as a point of sale of products to the miners.
Another serious problem that is also denounced by the leaders is the pollution of the streams and small water sources that are used as animal drinking fountains. The Juariquim stream is one of those that receives the tailings from mining. In January, more than 30 mills were counted in it, which are machinery used to crush stones. These mills are responsible for pollution because they use mercury to separate the ores.
The leaders also reveal, the owners of the mills and trucks are businessmen who charge money for crushing and loading the materials. The freight values vary between 300 and 400 reais and to use the mill for each bag the value is around 30 reais, which causes people to get into debt.
The Raposa region is made up of lakes that surround several communities. One of the best known is Lake Caracaranã. For this reason, the leaders fear that the tailings from mining, including mercury, whose use was even allowed by the law that was suspended in the STF, will reach these lakes with the approach of winter, due to the region being flat.
Residents of the communities that are close to the mining also report that vehicle traffic has increased. There are trucks and small vehicles that circulate day and night towards Serra do Atola. The leaders say that there is no inspection by public security agencies, and this has led to insecurity among residents.
Because it is the summer period, people avoid passing through the surveillance barrier, as they prefer to use other clandestine routes because of the illicit products they transport in the vehicles. The surveillance agents reported that these people take products from the mining and alcoholic beverages to be sold in the mining of the atola.
The growth of illegal action still occurs in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, which leads to even more risks for communities, which are trying to avoid a second wave of the disease with the implementation of barriers and sanitary measures. In Roraima, 107 indigenous people died from the disease, according to data from the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB).