The Military Police of Goiás (PMGO), near Cristalina (GO), has arrested a man suspected of running an illegal mining network in the states of Goiás, Minas Gerais and Bahia. 460 kilograms of quartz crystals were found with him. See article below:
The man was arrested on Saturday night (29/11) by the PMGO Foreign Exchange Operations Command. The army was passing through the Cristalina area (GO) when they saw the suspect in a car and approached him. Police then found nearly half a ton of crystals in the car.
The value of the 460 kilograms of quartz crystals seized is estimated at R$135,000, according to PMGO.
The man told the army that he leads a group specializing in illegal mining. He will be responsible for organizing the transportation and accommodation of miners, as well as leasing rural properties to secretly extract materials from the soil of those properties.
He also admitted to PMGO that he would sell the crystal to buyers in China and other Asian countries. The suspect did not provide further details about the destination of the material.
The person has been transferred to the Federal Police (PF), which must investigate the case. Since the ore found on Brazilian territory is owned by the union, the investigation is being conducted at the federal level.
The arrested suspect and other miners involved may face charges of usurpation of union assets, qualifying criminal association, environmental crimes, and illegal reception and trafficking of mineral products.
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Part of the mining was seized
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PMGO arrested the suspect and seized 460 kg of crystal
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Beyond Crystal: What Explains the Crystalina Mining Explosion?
Mining boom in Crystalina
In May this year, applications for a license to explore the Cristalina soil (GO) increased by 327% from 2023 to 2024: there were 47 applications last year, and 11 applications in 2023. In addition to the increase through legal means, the possibility of under-reporting due to the increase in informal mining identified by police operations must be taken into account.
After the Civil Police of Goiás (PCGO) on May 7 arrested 57 men and 15 women suspected of illegal mining in the municipality, the Capitals I went to the site and spoke to miners, cutters, artisans, vendors, police authorities and the general population.
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Illegal mining has increased significantly over the past months
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Willian Soto is the Vice President of the Artisans, Garimperos and Miners Association of Crystallina
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Cutting crystal stone
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Crystal with iron oxide has been widely sold in the region
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At the time, Willian Soto, vice-president of the Cristalina Artisans, Garimpiros and Miners Association, said that both the crystal and iron oxide, the substance extracted from the crystal, were becoming more in demand.
“Since last year, we have had a very high demand for iron oxide. It is a very easy material to extract, because it almost ‘falls’ into the ground, at a depth of less than two metres,” Soto explained. “Therefore, we now have not only miners who were already working, but also professionals who left their jobs to go into mining,” he added.
Mining engineer Roberto Ulises, national coordinator of the Mining and Geological Engineering Chambers at the Ministry of Defense with the Federal Council for Engineering and Agriculture (Confea), is betting that if there are indeed buyers from other Brazilian states and even from abroad, the interest will actually be in quartz, not iron oxide.
“I don’t think they buy iron ore, but rather quartz crystals, because quartz has more economic value. Quartz has many applications in the optical, medical, electronic and civil construction industries…” he comments.
Police forces began investigating the case after receiving reports from CapitalsHowever, as of the last publication of this article, there have been no updates regarding suspected illegal mining, nor regarding potential buyers of the minerals.