Gold used in Italian wedding rings linked to Amazon deforestation
by Lucas Ferraz and Guilherme Henrique on 8 March 2022
A leading Italian group that refines gold for use in jewelry is getting some of its precious metal from illegal mines that are destroying an Indigenous reserve in the Brazilian Amazon, an investigation has found.
Police in Brazil identified Tuscany-based Chimet SpA, one of the top 50 companies in Italy by revenue, as the recipient at the end of a complex web of illegal miners, launderers and exporters.
The starting point for the gold is the Kayapó Indigenous Territory in the Amazonian state of Pará, where mining is banned under the Constitution but where it persists due to a lack of law enforcement.
From there, the gold flows to companies based in the states of São Paulo, Goiás and Rio de Janeiro, which then launder it fraudulently certify it as being of legal origin in preparation for export.
More:
https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/gold-used-in-italian-wedding-rings-linked-to-amazon-deforestation/