Gold Imports from Brazil Said to Possess High Risk of Illegality

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The results of a new study indicates that the gold imports from Brazil are said to have high risk of illegality.

According to a recent assessment by the Escolhas Institute, there was a significant risk of illegality associated with 94% of the gold imports into the EU from Brazil in the previous year. According to the analysis, almost all of the gold imported by the EU region is tainted with illegality, particularly the gold imported from Brazil.

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The study noted that the gold produced in wildcat mines known as garimpos are notsubject to the same stringent rules and supervision as large-scale commercial mines. The garimpo hotspots are mainly located in the Amazonian states of Amazonas and Para. The high risk trade even extends to the commercial hub of Sao Paulo, it said.

It is extremely difficult to track the origin of gold from garimpos. The owner and the mine workers split the metal after it is extracted. It then circulates in the local economy and eventually reaches the DTVMs- the only entities in Brazil with the legal authority to deal in gold.

The leading buyer of high-risk gold from Brazil is Germany. The country had imported 1,289 kilograms from high-risk areas in 2023. Italy too imported 254 kilograms of gold, with high-risk areas accounting for 71% of the imports.