Unlawful mining activities allegedly taking place in the region have led to widespread destruction of the rainforest – a critical buffer against climate breakdown. Illegal mining is also accused by campaigners of damaging the health of local communities and wildlife through mercury contamination used in the process.
An investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and Brazilian news group Repórter Brasil claims to have documentary evidence showing StoneX bought gold from a Brazilian company that sourced some of the precious metal from an Amazon-based network including rogue miners fined by Brazil’s environment agency in 2022.
It added: “StoneX is a responsible member of the global precious metals industry and conducts extensive due diligence and follows robust policies and processes to verify the legitimacy of origin of all precious metals it acquires.
StoneX agreed its main sponsorship deal with Saracens in 2020 (Photo: Warren Little/Getty Images)
Following the allegations, one Amazon campaign group called on Saracens to cut ties with its sponsor.
“Saracens has the duty to sever ties with its sponsor or share its potential complicity in one of today’s primary drivers of destruction in Amazonian indigenous lands and communities.”
StoneX’s sponsorship deal with Saracens includes naming rights on its stadium in north London (Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
In recent years, the Amazon has become a hotbed of illicit gold production and high prices have prompted a rush of informal “wildcat” mining, which is linked to environmental damage.
In September 2023 customs officers in São Paulo stopped a cargo of gold destined for StoneX’s subsidiary in Dubai. It was held after officers at the airport found a discrepancy with the weight that had been declared by Coluna, one of StoneX’s suppliers.
In total, 12.2kg of the gold, invoiced for more than £474,000, was acquired from the cooperative, the investigation found. This is 16% of the consignment.
Coopemiga was fined around £350,000 in 2022 for crimes including deforestation, operating on unauthorised land and mercury use.
How Amazon gold mining can harm the rainforest
Gold mining area in Amazon rainforest region (Photo: Tarcisio Schnaider/Getty)The Brazilian Amazon is one of the richest and most diverse habitats in the world, home to millions of species, many of which are still unknown to science.
According to Greenpeace, the region has been systematically destroyed by economic activities that are incapable of coexisting with the forest, as is the case with gold mining.
Greenpeace and other campaign groups claim illegal mining has been expanding in the Amazon for decades, polluting indigenous lands and other protected areas. They say it threatens the lives and health of the more than 30 million people who inhabit the region, particularly indigenous peoples, through mercury contamination used to extract the gold from rock and the destruction of the forest.
It is also alleged illegal mining comes at the expense of the rivers that cut through the forest which are one of the main sources of food for local communities in the region, and are vital for the reproduction of aquatic life in important areas for the conservation of the Amazon.
Alexandria Reid, Forests campaign lead at Global Witness, said: “Allegations like these underscore the urgent need for financial institutions and traders to be required to do in-depth checks and go beyond immediate suppliers to ensure they aren’t playing a blind hand in a high-stakes gamble with the world’s forests.”
It added that Coluna is a financial institution, licensed by the Central Bank in Brazil, that continues to export to this day and the gold in question “was already in the Brazilian banking system”, and that StoneX collected the required certificates of origin and background documentation of the metal. It added that StoneX does not buy gold from cooperatives in Brazil.
At the time of Saracens deal with StoneX in 2020, the club’s then chief executive Lucy Wray said: “Having met some of the people at StoneX and City Index, I can safely say that they share our ambition and values.”
Despite repeated requests, Saracens did not respond to questions on claims relating to its sponsorship deal with StoneX.
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