Gold rush tears up a patch of the Amazon

Federal government land
The land reform agency says the land actually belongs to the federal government, but now that the miners are here, there's talk of compromise — authorities say they will permit pressure hoses, rock crushers and other machinery if miners police themselves and stick to an environmental protection plan.

But da Silva, the man who claims to own the whole area, says he's working on exactly that.

"This place has a great future. There are other minerals here besides gold. We have to get organized to exploit it," he said.

Off the record, many miners talk of threats and intimidation that ensure they pay da Silva's 8 percent cut. Da Silva denies it and says he has his own share of headaches and unseen costs.

So far, the federal government and most miners seem content to leave him in charge, if only to provide some order.

Meanwhile, prospectors travel up and down the river and deeper into the jungle looking for "fofocas" — new finds.

Hoping for more finds
"There's gold here for sure, the problem is finding an area to work. Every spot has three or four owners now. I'm just waiting for a new fofoca and I'll be right in the middle of it," said Jose Francisco Mendes dos Santos, who came from the neighboring state of Rondonia. "A prospector's motto is hope, and his friend is luck."

Gilmar Predebon reckons his gold store in Apui buys about 70 ounces of gold a day and molds them into gold ingots. He figures the mines generate between 200 and 230 ounces a day overall — "a good amount of gold but nowhere near as much as you'd expect, considering all the talk."

Gold is fetching around $650 an ounce on world markets.

Mayor Longo thinks his city of 20,000 would be better off without the mine: "Sure, it's been good for the merchants but we have major health problems. Before the garimpo, we had malaria mostly under control here; now it's a huge problem again."

Others say the garimpo has improved things.

"This was a door God opened for Apui. Today the city has grown fivefold and people are flooding in from every corner of the country," said Antonio Carlos Santos, who quit his policeman job to work the mines.

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