Illegal gold mining is spreading into new parts of Peru’s Amazon, advancing along remote rivers and into Indigenous territories as experts warn of a widening environmental and public health crises that could cause irreparable damage. The surge marks a new phase for one of the Amazon’s most destructive industries, as operations move beyond long-established hot spots into previously untouched regions, environmentalists, researchers and Indigenous leaders told The Associated Press. The expansion is accelerating deforestation, contaminating rivers with mercury and exposing remote communities to violence and organized ... (full story)