Brazilian NGO proposes blockchain technology to combat illegal gold mining

Brazilian sustainability NGO Instituto Escolhas is proposing the use of blockchain technology to combat illegal gold production, a persistent problem in the country. 

"The gold traceability and monitoring system must be digital, with secure and reliable records. Therefore, the technology known as DLT  (Distributed Ledger Technology) is recommended. It's a bank distributed data system, in which users enter the information that must be recorded in the blockchain," Instituto Escolhas said in a report. 

"All records must be connected, and it is important that they are accessible to the public, allowing for control and transparency in the sector," it added.

According to the NGO, measures to combat illegal mining are urgently required, as 229t, nearly half the country's production between 2015 and 2020, shows "serious signs of illegality." 

Brazilian authorities are also tackling the problem. The federal police is looking to form partnerships with international institutions to create a database called gold DNA.

Illegal mining causes serious environmental impacts; it often takes place on indigenous land and in the rainforest, fuels corruption and violence.

Topics related to sustainable mining have been closely followed by global investors and the government seeks to define more rigid strategies in its 2050 national mining policy plan, expected to be announced in November.

“We will have an important axis in this long-term plan that will be linked to sustainable mining. We will show in this plan that it is possible to reconcile the needs of society with safety and environmental protection,” geology, mining and mineral transformation secretary Pedro Paulo Dias Mesquita told BNamericas recently.