Decretos Presidenciais Reforçam o Descompasso na Regulação Minerária em Prejuízo ao Meio Ambiente

The report analyzes the regulatory disparity between industrial mining and 'garimpo' (artisanal mining) in Brazil, specifically focusing on how cooperatives use the lenient 'Permissão de Lavra Garimpeira' (PLG) to conduct industrial-scale gold mining in the Amazon. It highlights that Presidential Decrees 10.965/2022 and 10.966/2022 further incentivize this by simplifying bureaucracy and providing development support to these cooperatives. Data shows that some cooperatives hold larger mining areas than Vale S.A., yet avoid the rigorous prior mineral research required for industrial concessions, which hinders socio-environmental impact assessments and the fight against financial laundering.

• Presidential Decrees 10.965/2022 and 10.966/2022 increase the regulatory imbalance by simplifying permission procedures for small-scale enterprises and creating the Program for the Support of the Development of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (Pró-Mape), with the Legal Amazon as the priority region.
• Mining cooperatives in the Amazon are operating at an industrial scale while utilizing a lenient regulatory regime (PLG) that was originally intended to protect vulnerable, low-resource individual miners.
• Data on gold mining in the Amazon reveals that cooperatives dominate the largest operational areas; seven of the ten largest gold mining areas are held by cooperatives, and three individual cooperatives hold larger areas than Vale S.A.
• There is a significant disparity in land concentration: 57 mining cooperatives hold over 790,800 hectares under PLG, whereas 51 mining companies hold approximately 334,800 hectares under industrial Concessions of Mining.
• The lack of a requirement for prior mineral research for PLG holders—unlike the requirement for industrial concessions—makes it difficult for authorities to assess socio-environmental impacts and combat the laundering of financial assets from mining.
• The report recommends the immediate revocation of Decrees 10.965/2022 and 10.966/2022 and a revision of the regulations for mining cooperatives to align their legal regime with the industrial nature of their activities.

APA

Cozendey, G., Pereira, L., Pucci, R., & Chiavari, J. (2022). Decretos Presidenciais Reforçam o Descompasso na Regulação Minerária em Prejuízo ao Meio Ambiente. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/INS-Garimpo-PT.pdf

Chicago

Cozendey, Gabriel, Leila Pereira, Rafael Pucci, and Joana Chiavari. Decretos Presidenciais Reforçam o Descompasso na Regulação Minerária em Prejuízo ao Meio Ambiente. Climate Policy Initiative, 2022. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/INS-Garimpo-PT.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Cozendey |first1=Gabriel |last2=Pereira |first2=Leila |last3=Pucci |first3=Rafael |last4=Chiavari |first4=Joana |title=Decretos Presidenciais Reforçam o Descompasso na Regulação Minerária em Prejuízo ao Meio Ambiente |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=April 2022 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/INS-Garimpo-PT.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cozendey2022decretos, author = {Cozendey, Gabriel and Pereira, Leila and Pucci, Rafael and Chiavari, Joana}, title = {{Decretos Presidenciais Reforçam o Descompasso na Regulação Minerária em Prejuízo ao Meio Ambiente}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2022}, month = apr, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/INS-Garimpo-PT.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }