Illegal gold mining continues to scar vast stretches of the Amazon rainforest, with investigators uncovering billions of dollars in gold allegedly laundered through “ghost” mining permits. (File Photo) Billions of dollars worth of gold is still being extracted illegally from Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, a study by nonprofit watchdog Greenpeace found, despite efforts by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to crack down on wildcat mining. Lula pledged upon taking office in 2023 to  eliminate illegal gold mining ⁠from ​Indigenous lands and protected areas after years of expansion encouraged by far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro. Last year, Brazil’s Federal Police seized a record 447 kg (985 pounds) of illegally mined gold. But as gold prices hit record highs amid intense geopolitical instability, the Greenpeace ​study found ​that miners have adapted by using permits from ⁠places with no mining activity to falsify the origin of illegally mined gold.…