We have analysed the three main processes of gold mining - slave mining, dredging and industrial gold mining -, by means of an environmental historical-dialectic approach in the municipality of Faina, in the Brazilian State of Goias State. The data showed that dredging had the greatest environmental impact on the area. The gold mining activities in Faina strongly contributed to the environmental history of the municipality and to the memory of this type of mining in Brazil.
Mining process; Gold exploration; Environmental impacts