US contractors reportedly purchase tin from company accused of illegal Amazon mining

Filed 1h ago · Via Mongabay · The Buffoon Desk

THIS STORY IS SCORED

Spy Glass

Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan · CC BY 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

A Brazilian investigation alleges that tin producer White Solder supplied hundreds of tons of metal sourced from illegal mining in Yanomami Indigenous Territory to U.S. companies, including suppliers to defense contractor Raytheon and a firm building a Pentagon-funded smelting plant in Pennsylvania. Brazilian federal prosecutors have filed money laundering and illegal mining charges against White Solder, alleging it paid a cooperative $32.5 million to disguise the origin of illegally extracted ore.

A separate investigation found no evidence of mining activity at sites White Solder claimed as its legal source in Rondônia, despite the company reporting over 2,300 metric tons purchased from those locations. Greenpeace Brasil called the sites 'ghost mines.' Neither White Solder, its U.S. buyers, Raytheon, nor the Defense Department responded to questions from the investigating outlet.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

A mine that shows up in the paperwork but not in the satellite photos is the kind of detail that ought to end a business relationship, not just a news cycle. The Pentagon says it wants to break China's grip on tin supply, and instead it may have found a supplier with its own grip problem. Nobody involved wanted to answer questions, which tends to answer the question anyway.

Source: Read the original at Mongabay → Scored: Spy Glass · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0

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