About Us

ON THE RIGHT TRACK

For more than 30 years working with responsibility and environmental awareness

We are the Cooperativa dos Garimpeiros de Santa Cruz (COOPERSANTA) and the Cooperativa Metalúrgica de Rondônia (COOPERMETAL), a mineral cooperative group specialized in supplying ore to various industrial segments, both nationally and internationally. We hold the mineral exploration rights for the Bom Futuro Mine, located in the municipality of Ariquemes - RO.

We sell cassiterite concentrates for industrialization in tin metallurgical smelters and titanium concentrates for industrialization in pigment production units.

We work with the goal of providing our customers with high quality ore and, for our associates, access to advanced technologies, specialized technical support, and training programs to improve their skills and knowledge.

We are committed to ore production combined with sustainable development, investing in mining activity, while seeking to minimize environmental impacts. Mining with Environmental Consciousness is our motto.

OUR PURPOSE

Foster mineral cooperativism, promoting the social inclusion of small and medium miners and the development of sustainable mining.

OUR MISSION

Supply high quality ore, with excellence, ethics, transparency and sustainability.

OUR VISION

To be a reference cooperative in the production and commercialization of cassiterite and titanium concentrates.

OUR VALUES

Ethics, Transparency, Solidarity, Social inclusion, Sustainable development.

HISTORY

BOM FUTURO MINE: a story built by many hands

The Bom Futuro Mine was discovered in 1986 during a timber extraction in the region of the municipality of Ariquemes, located in the state of Rondônia. It operated irregularly until 1990, when mining rights were granted to Empresa Brasileira de Estanho S.A (EBESA). In 2005, mineral exploration rights were transferred to Cooperativa dos Garimpeiros de Santa Cruz (COOPERSANTA), through an assignment of rights. 

Since the beginning of the legalization of extraction, the mining operation at the Bom Futuro Mine has sought to balance the activity of the large mining company with the extractive activities of garimpeiros, including small manual producers and medium mechanized producers, already present in the area.

This integrated model was approved by the National Department of Mineral Production (DNPM) in an Economic Use Plan (PAE) with regular environmental and operational procedures. Although this model is not defined in mining legislation, it was built over 30 years of negotiations monitored and validated by public inspection agencies.

In 1998, the Bom Futuro Garimpo Land Management Agreement was signed, which included commitments such as the construction of a school to serve 300 students, the implementation of basic infrastructure for the district headquarters, and the organization of extractive and environmental activities in the deposit. These actions were monitored by a board that included all the parties involved, and resulted in two national awards: Itaú/UNICEF-1999 and Criança 2000 from Fundação ABRINQ.

Currently, the District of Bom Futuro has an urban population of around 3,000 residents, including workers in the quarry and rural workers in the surroundings, and has the entire structure of social facilities, a shopping center and residential areas. The Padre Ângelo Spadari Municipal School, which initially served 300 students, was expanded and is now a center school with 1,500 students, from preschool to high school.

In 2015, the inclusion of small manual workers in the production chain of the deposit was completed through a production cooperative (COOPERFUTURO), in order to comply with tax and labor legislation, and payment of a fair price for the cassiterite concentrate produced.

The operation of the Bom Futuro Mine was certified in 2015, after an audit by international technicians, in the CSFI (Conflict Free Smelter) program, which proves that the origin of tin (cassiterite) is not associated with child labor or armed conflicts.

This program was implemented by the EICC (Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition), an entity that represents more than 100 large multinational companies that are final consumers of tin for the microelectronics area (Apple, Black Berry, Cisco, Dell, IBM, Intel, Garmin, IBM, Microsoft , Motorola, Philips, Motorola, Samsung, etc).

This certification was published on the CSFI official page. The activities at the Bom Futuro deposit have a unique mining operation model, which does not have a specific definition in the mineral legislation, different from other mining activities operating in Brazil.

This model was built from the sum of two main attitudes: the willingness of the parties involved to resolve conflicts and the supervisory agencies not only to apply penalties, but also to get involved in the solution.

According to the state government, Rondônia remains in 1st position among Brazilian producers of tin ore (cassiterite), with 11,400 gross tons and a purity of 74.58%. In 2020, ore generated revenues of BRL 360.5 million, 15.84% more than in the previous year, when it reached BRL 311.2 million.

“Growing together with strength, innovation and sustainability”