Artisanal and small-scale gold mining in the Amazonian countries has undergone important technological improvements in recent decades. Nevertheless, this type of mining is largely associated with the use of rudimentary, low-tech and often manual methods, with inefficient gold recovery. This article aims at investigating how innovations and improvements in the technology used in small-scale gold mines are connected to a broader perception of the miners about the integration of more modern and effective techniques. A technographical approach enabled the understanding of mining practices as embodied cultural knowledge and to fill the information gap between the study of materials and techniques with the study of people and communities. We discuss how the technology of small-scale gold mining in the region of Peixoto de Azevedo (Mato Grosso, Brazil) has changed since the early 1980s, giving particular attention to the recent introduction of two main innovations: the mechanized exploration drill and the cyanidation process. In this region, miners are successfully organized in cooperatives efforts to mutually reinforce the integration of innovative and effective techniques. Finally, we introduce the three notions of foresight (visão), agility (agilidade) and development (desenvolvimento) that emerged during fieldwork and conceptually frame the likeliness of acceptance and promulgation of innovations in this context. Sustainable mining may only succeed if a wider vision of the future of the sector (foresight) joins public policies that facilitate the practical process of innovation during each phase of its realization (agility) in order to achieve an advanced social status of the local community (development).

近几十年来，亚马逊国家的手工和小规模金矿开采经历了重要的技术改进。然而，这种类型的开采很大程度上与使用基本的，低技术含量的，通常是手工的方法有关，并且金的回收效率低下。本文旨在调查小型金矿中使用的技术的创新和改进如何与更广泛的矿工对更现代有效的技术整合的认识相关联。技术方法使人们能够将采矿实践理解为具体的文化知识，并填补了对材料和技术的研究与对人和社区的研究之间的信息鸿沟。我们讨论了Peixoto de Azevedo（Mato Grosso，巴西）自1980年代初期以来发生了变化，特别关注了最近引入的两项主要创新：机械化勘探钻探和氰化工艺。在该地区，矿工通过合作社的成功组织，相互促进了创新和有效技术的融合。最后，我们介绍了前瞻性的三个概念（（visão），敏捷性（agilidade）和发展（desenvolvimento），这些概念在概念上构架了在这种情况下接受和发布创新的可能性。可持续采矿只有在对行业的未来有更广阔的视野（前瞻性）并加入促进创新的各个阶段（敏捷性）以促进当地实际社会地位的实用性创新过程的公共政策时，才能取得成功（发展）。