Illegal Brazil Gold Tied to Italian Metal, Big Tech Companies
2022-08-05
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1Brazilian police say an Italian metal refiner purchased gold from a trader that mined the metal illegally.
2The company, police say, purchased the gold from the Amazon rainforest area in the South American country.
3Public documents show that the refiner, Chimet, has supplied the metal to four of the world's largest technology companies.
4Tech companies Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Alphabet (the parent company of Google) name Chimet as a source of some gold used in their products.
5Technology companies often use small amounts of the metal in circuit boards.
6Circuit boards are used in technology products like computers.
7The investigative news agency Reporter Brasil secured police documents that were then examined by reporters with Reuters.
8The documents showed Brazilian federal police have accused Chimet of buying millions of dollars of gold from company CHM do Brasil.
9CHM do Brasil reportedly sourced the gold from illegal miners.
10Lawyers representing CHM say the company sourced its gold legally with all necessary documentation.
11Illegal mining has increased since Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro took office in 2019.
12Bolsanaro has supported small mining groups called wildcatters and has sought to legalize mining on lands of indigenous, or native, populations.
13Unregulated mines have destroyed rainforest land in the Amazon and have polluted rivers with mercury.
14Miners have had violent conflicts with indigenous groups seeking to protect their land.
15Brazilian research group Instituto Escolhas estimated that the country produced 84 metric tons of illegal gold in Bolsonaro's first two years in office.
16That is up 23 percent from the two years before and is nearly half of Brazil's total gold output.
17Larissa Rodrigues is a writer of the Escolhas report.
18She said, "A company that is buying gold from Brazil already knows there is a huge risk it is buying irregular gold - Amazon blood gold."
19A Chimet representative said the company cut off relations with CHM after learning of the reports of illegal gold trade in October 2021.
20A police document from August 2021 stated that Chimet reportedly bought $385 million worth of gold from CHM between 2015 and 2020.
21A police investigation is ongoing into the possible CHM crimes.
22The four American tech companies listed Chimet among more than 100 gold refiners in their supply chains during the investigation's five-year time period.
23They also listed Chimet in their most recent 2021 documents.
24Giovanni Prelazzi is a company representative for Chimet.
25He said Chimet does not have direct relationships with the four tech companies.
26Instead, Prelazzi said, it sells gold to banks that can resell it for different uses. He did not name the banks.
27Apple has said that its policies ban the use of illegally mined minerals.
28The iPhone maker said companies that cannot follow such requirements are removed from its supply chain.
29Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft did not comment.
30Chimet said it began working with the company Deloitte to look into its other suppliers after learning of the CHM investigation in Brazil.
31In April 2020, Chimet was again approved by London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) as meeting gold sourcing standards.
32I'm Gregory Stachel.
1Brazilian police say an Italian metal refiner purchased gold from a trader that mined the metal illegally. The company, police say, purchased the gold from the Amazon rainforest area in the South American country. 2Public documents show that the refiner, Chimet, has supplied the metal to four of the world's largest technology companies. Tech companies Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Alphabet (the parent company of Google) name Chimet as a source of some gold used in their products. 3Technology companies often use small amounts of the metal in circuit boards. Circuit boards are used in technology products like computers. 4The investigative news agency Reporter Brasil secured police documents that were then examined by reporters with Reuters. The documents showed Brazilian federal police have accused Chimet of buying millions of dollars of gold from company CHM do Brasil. 5CHM do Brasil reportedly sourced the gold from illegal miners. Lawyers representing CHM say the company sourced its gold legally with all necessary documentation. 6Illegal mining has increased since Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro took office in 2019. Bolsanaro has supported small mining groups called wildcatters and has sought to legalize mining on lands of indigenous, or native, populations. 7Unregulated mines have destroyed rainforest land in the Amazon and have polluted rivers with mercury. Miners have had violent conflicts with indigenous groups seeking to protect their land. 8Brazilian research group Instituto Escolhas estimated that the country produced 84 metric tons of illegal gold in Bolsonaro's first two years in office. That is up 23 percent from the two years before and is nearly half of Brazil's total gold output. 9Larissa Rodrigues is a writer of the Escolhas report. She said, "A company that is buying gold from Brazil already knows there is a huge risk it is buying irregular gold - Amazon blood gold." 10A Chimet representative said the company cut off relations with CHM after learning of the reports of illegal gold trade in October 2021. 11A police document from August 2021 stated that Chimet reportedly bought $385 million worth of gold from CHM between 2015 and 2020. 12A police investigation is ongoing into the possible CHM crimes. 13The four American tech companies listed Chimet among more than 100 gold refiners in their supply chains during the investigation's five-year time period. They also listed Chimet in their most recent 2021 documents. 14Giovanni Prelazzi is a company representative for Chimet. He said Chimet does not have direct relationships with the four tech companies. Instead, Prelazzi said, it sells gold to banks that can resell it for different uses. He did not name the banks. 15Apple has said that its policies ban the use of illegally mined minerals. The iPhone maker said companies that cannot follow such requirements are removed from its supply chain. 16Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft did not comment. 17Chimet said it began working with the company Deloitte to look into its other suppliers after learning of the CHM investigation in Brazil. In April 2020, Chimet was again approved by London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) as meeting gold sourcing standards. 18I'm Gregory Stachel. 19Jake Spring reported this story for Reuters. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English. 20________________________________________________________________________ 21Words in This Story 22regulate - v. to bring (something) under the control of authority 23irregular - adj. not following the usual rules about what should be done 24standard - n. a level of quality or achievement that is considered acceptable or desirable 25________________________________________________________________________ 26What do you think of illegal gold mining? 27We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 28Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.