The E-Waste Column no. 214

7 minutes ago
3 min read

Mining is a key driver of deforestation, and the rising demand for critical metals and minerals is taking a toll on forests globally. In today’s column, we are therefore looking at a few concrete examples of how illegal mining is driving deforestation and social issues.

🌱 What is happening in the Amazon?

With illegal mining on the rise, authorities from five Amazon countries jointly seized “195 metric tons of minerals and equipment used in illegal mining like gold, carbon, iron and copper” in August 2026. Throughout the Amazon Forest, mercury pollution from illegal gold mining is a particular issue. For example, in Madre de Dios in Peru’s Amazon, the “[m]ercury used to separate gold from sediment has contaminated waterways, wildlife and people, including Indigenous communities that depend heavily on fish”. This illegal gold mining has occurred in the Tambopata National Reserve, as well as near or on the protected lands of Indigenous communities, and it “has stripped away vast areas of rainforest” and led to a loss of biodiversity.

🌱 What is happening in Mozambique?

Mozambique is a leading feedstock supplier for the production of zirconium and titanium globally. Zirconium is derived from zircon, and titanium dioxide pigment is produced from rutile and ilmenite. Notably, the so-called “heavy mineral sands” on the coast of Mozambique contain ilmenite, zircon and rutile. Extracting the heavy minerals from Mozambique’s coasts displace sediments, leads to considerable mangrove loss, and effectively reshapes the countries’ coastlines. A recent Mongabay investigation found that hundreds of hectares of mangroves have disappeared “in just a few years” through the extraction activities. Across the board, the companies processing the heavy mineral sands “have caused adverse environmental and social impacts, which include the destruction of sensitive habitats, environmental pollution, inappropriate resettlement and/or unfair compensation in the resettlement process”.

🌱 What is happening in Indonesia?

The growing demand for nickel globally poses a risk to Indonesia’s to protect its forests and biodiversity. According to a 2023 spatial analysis from Mighty Earth, at least 76 031 hectares of forest have been lost through nickel mining in Indonesia and over half a million hectares of forest may “be threatened by further expansion”. Indonesia notably “holds the world’s largest nickel reserves”, and it is currently also “the world’s largest nickel producer”. The country expanded its nickel production by “roughly [a] tenfold over the past decade”, and it is now “the source of more than half of [the] global supply”. In line with this, it is also estimated “that Indonesia could account for as much as 74 per cent of global nickel production by 2040”. The problem with all this is that large parts of “Indonesia’s nickel industry [are] concentrated in areas that are also important for biodiversity”. Significant amounts of Indonesia’s nickel is found in laterite deposits and mining these “can involve extensive land clearing”.

🌱 What could be done to mitigate the issues?

Illegal mining thrives in the absence of effective regulations, law enforcement, and sanctions. While the EU’s regulation on deforestation-free products notably applies specifically to beef, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soya, and wood, its scope does not extend to specific critical metals and minerals. With gold – for example – being exempt from the regulation, there is effectively little to prevent the growing global environmental destruction and deforestation driven by the EU’s consumption of gold. That said, pursuing a so-called “lower-mineral energy transition” could, however, help to mitigate adverse impacts. This is, for example, “possible through measures including greater use of public transportation, recycling and changes in battery technology”.