The word ‘mining’ has no translation in the language of the Waimiri Atroari people. ‘Syna iakybyny,’ translated as ‘polluted river,’ is the expression the Indigenous people use to refer to the activity of a mining company that has operated on the borders of their Indigenous land since 1982.
This is the starting point of a Repórter Brasil investigation into the impacts of Mineração Taboca on the territory of the kinja, as the Waimiri Atroari call themselves.
For centuries, they have lived in the region between northern Amazonas and southern Roraima. For the past 40 years, however, they have reported that the river has been contaminated by waste from Mineração Taboca, Brazil’s largest producer of refined tin — ore extracted from the Amazon rainforest enters the supply chains of automotive industry giants such as Toyota and Tesla.
This fear is not unfounded. Chemical analyses identified substances such as lead, arsenic, and other heavy metals in the stream that flows into the Alalaú, the main river in the Indigenous territory. The kinja now fear that these risks will spread with the new mining rush driven by the energy transition in the Amazon.
Indigenous people report new suspicions of river contamination by mining company in Amazonas
A FUNAI inspection says pollution stains likely originated in the area operated by Mineração Taboca, Brazil’s largest tin producer; investigated since 2021 over possible contamination in the Waimiri Atroari Indigenous Territory, the company says there is no conclusive evidence
Mining company investigated for Amazon contamination reached Toyota and Tesla’s supply chain
Tin extracted by Mineração Taboca has been sold to Toyota and reached Tesla’s production chain; Brazil’s Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office in Amazonas (MPF-AM) is investigating heavy metal contamination on the Waimiri Atroari Indigenous Land (AM); the company denies its operations are linked to the pollution.
Fear of river contamination by a mining company returns to haunt indigenous people in Amazonas, four decades after first accusations
Brazil’s Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office has reopened an investigation after tests found heavy metals in a stream feeding the river running through the Waimiri Atroari Indigenous Territory in the Amazon rainforest. The output of the country’s top refined tin producer—Mineração Taboca—reaches the supply chains of Toyota and Tesla.
CREDITS
Reporting and research: Isabel Harari
Coordination: Carlos Juliano Barros
Report editing: Carlos Juliano Barros and Diego Junqueira
Institutional communications: Paula Bianchi
Social media: Tamyres Matos and Beatriz Vitória
Design: Rodrigo Bento
Assembly and structure: Beatriz Vitória
Photography: Fernando Martinho
Video editing: Camila Ribeiro and Nayara Costa
