Invisible gold: How illegal cassiterite from the Amazon supplies global giants without leaving traces

oglobo6 September 2026 at 08:30

Cassiterite, ore essential for the manufacturing of artificial intelligence microchips, cell phone screens and equipment for the energy transition, has become the new frontier of organized crime in the Amazon. The ore, called "black gold," is illegally extracted on protected lands of the Amazon rainforest.

Classified documents from Operation Forge of Hephaestus, by the Federal Police, and investigations by the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) reveal how cassiterite illegally removed from Yanomami Indigenous Land and the Campos Amazônicos National Park would have supplied the supply chains of major global companies.

The companies that would have received the illegal ore include Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Walt Disney, Sony, Starbucks, Caterpillar, PepsiCo, Colgate-Palmolive, Victoria's Secret and jeans manufacturer Levi Strauss, among others. The scheme operates without leaving traces in the supply chains of these giants.

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Invisible gold: How illegal cassiterite from the Amazon supplies global giants without leaving traces

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