crepurizao brazil informal mine brazil see many scourge pollute amazon rainforest poison indigenous tribes rob nation wealth others way life brazilian garimpos wildcat mine operate small crew men often cake red-brown mud work rudimentary pan shovel sluice box use centuries sophisticate operations use water cannon boat suck mud bottom rivers regardless method search gold minerals like cassiterite niobium dirty dangerous often illegal look gold like play casino say 48-year-old miner miners ask name say fear police much work illegal start wildcat mine teenager area around crepurizao ramshackle frontier town 5,000 dirt land strip gateway informal mine region garimpos spotlight brazil debate open area know renca northern amazon forest mine meet stiff resistance environmentalists mine energy minister fernando coelho filho argue license mine improvement estimate 1,000 people currently mine reserve illegally crepurizao lie hundreds miles south renca give window life garimpos catch debate live makeshift home wood plastic miners area ship 60 kilograms 132 lbs gold per month accord traders much pure gold worth millions dollars global market high cost layer traders local market leave miners live brink poverty basic staple cost four five time price near city eight-hour bus ride away fuel station general store bar evangelical church prostitute vie income attention miners know garimpeiros work laze hammocks 2,113 license garimpo sit brazil accord ministry data environmental experts two government officials ask name say far small-scale mine skip license ignore regulations altogether crepurizao mine often cluster close together unclear operations license total area work garimpeiros brazil think small chemicals like mercury miners crepurizao dump separate gold grit leave large footprint contamination march last year government-backed study indigenous villages northern state roraima reveal alarm level mercury one group villagers double level mercury consider serious health risk damage central nervous system kidneys heart reproductive process detect hair mine energy ministry say new oversight agency create decree president michel temer pending congressional approval would allow effective government coordination inspections restrict illegal mine congressman leonardo quintao sit committee consider new agency say able raise fund oversight say regulations target license miners illegal mine remain matter police still one ibama enforcement officer authorize speak media say government leave miners like crepurizao precarious limbo pull garimpos cities live gold government offer structure decent condition say officer strand without minimum condition survival click reut.rs/2f6e5c2 relate photo essay brazilians toil gold illegal amazon mine