According to four sources with knowledge of the plans, Brazil’s government is preparing legislation that would require electronic tax receipts for the buying and selling of the precious metal as part of an effort to combat illegal gold mining in the Amazon.
With a crackdown on illegal mining in the Amazon, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hopes to reverse years of environmental regress under his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.
In addition, Lula has promised to protect indigenous populations in the Amazon who are in danger from armed, disease-carrying wildcat miners and to put an end to deforestation, which has increased to a 15-year high under Bolsonaro.
New guidelines for the purchase, sale, and transportation of gold are proposed in a draught temporary decree seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
The proposal, which has the backing of Brazil’s Ibram mining lobby, states that wildcat-mined gold would be regarded as a financial asset that must be initially purchased by a company or brokerage approved by the Brazilian central bank.
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