Illegal mining in Peru

File:MINISTRO DE DEFENSA SUPERVISÓ BASES MIXTAS CONTRA LA MINERÍA ILEGAL 3N MADRE DE DIOS.jpg (Amazon Basin) deforested and polluted by illegal mining.]]

Illegal mining or illegal mineral extraction is a common economic activity in Peru, which consists of the exploitation of metallic minerals (such as gold) and non-metallic minerals (clay, marble, among others) to finance criminal organizations.{{Cite web|url=https://canaln.pe/actualidad/actualidad/poder-judicial-mineria-ilegal-ahora-controlada-organizaciones-criminales-n468680|title=Poder Judicial: Minería ilegal ahora es controlada por organizaciones criminales|access-date=2023-12-08|date=2023-12-08|work=canaln.pe|language=es}} Illegal mining rose to prominence in the late 1970s with the emergence of informality in that sector.Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental 2014, p. 179 Illegal mining in Peru lacks social and environmental controls or regulations, a characteristic it shares with the artisanal mining sector in the country.{{Cite web|url=https://caretas.pe/medio-ambiente/en-que-se-diferencian-la-mineria-informal-y-la-mineria-ilegal/|title=¿En qué se diferencian la minería informal y la minería ilegal?|access-date=2024-02-06|date=2024-01-31|work=Caretas|language=es}}

Those who promote and carry out illegal mining, have means and forms of organization, which act outside the control mechanisms of the Peruvian state and systematically evade relevant legal norms.Guillermo Medina, Jorge Arévalo A. Felipe Quea J. “Estudio de Investigación de la Minería Ilegal en el Perú: Repercusión para el Sector Minero y el país”, Arequipa, 2007, pág 5 http://www.iimp.org.pe/website2/publicaciones/EstudioIIMP3_MineriaIlegal.pdf {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916001910/http://www.iimp.org.pe/website2/publicaciones/EstudioIIMP3_MineriaIlegal.pdf}} Illegal mining operations are located mainly in the departments of Madre de Dios,{{Cite news|title=Minería ilegal y Madre de Dios: la relación difícil de romper|url=https://elcomercio.pe/economia/peru/mineria-ilegal-madre-dios-relacion-dificil-romper-noticia-539044-noticia/|work=El Comercio|date=2018-07-23|access-date=2023-07-02|issn=1605-3052|language=es|first=Daniel|last=Macera}} Puno and La Libertad.Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental 2014, p. 180 In the case of the Amazon rainforest, 17 protected natural areas were compromised by it.Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental 2014, p. 175

Peru is one of various countries in the region, such as Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador that have significant problems with illegal mining.{{Cite news |title=Minería ilegal en Chile: Las cifras detrás del tipo de extracción que terminó en un derrumbe fatal en Copiapó |last=Guzmán |first=José Tomás |date=2025-03-04 |url=https://www.emol.com/noticias/Economia/2025/03/04/1159207/mineria-ilegal-chile.html |access-date=2025-03-05 |work=Emol |language=es}}

In the 2000s in the Amazonian department of Madre de Dios the illegal exploitation of gold dramatically increased the recruitment and coercion of adolescents into prostitution through false employment offers.{{cite web |url= http://www.peruviantimes.com/la-republica-expose-on-child-prostitution-in-peruvian-amazon-mining-towns/10555 |title= La Republica: Exposé on child prostitution in Peruvian Amazon mining towns|accessdate=2009-11-16 |website=Peruvian Times |date= 10 August 2008}}