Fig. 3: Illegality and timing of garimpo activities.

A Signs of illegality and nature of garimpo in 2022. At the top, the yellow bar denotes the total area in 2022. In the middle, the area is visualized according to signs of illegality and is classified as showing explicit signs of illegality or no explicit sign of illegality. At the bottom, the nature of illegality is provided, as are three distinct signs of illegality: occurring inside restricted areas, exhibiting inappropriate permits, and occurring outside the SIGMINE demarcation. B Temporal persistence of garimpo sites. The bar graphs show the proportion of the detected garimpo area as a function of its age [time]. The ages of the extraction sites within indigenous lands, conservation units, and the Brazilian Amazon are shown from top to bottom. The tonal variations (red) indicate age ≥ 18 years, < 18 and ≥ 10 years, < 10 and ≥ 5 years, or < 5 years. The redder the tone is, the younger the mining area.