Brazilian court accepts charges against White Solder — Mongabay
In Brazil, a federal court in August 2026 accepted charges of money laundering and illegal mining against tin producer White Solder. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office states that the company may have obtained raw materials illegally mined on the territory of the Yanomami Indigenous people in the Amazon. Mongabay reports, citing an investigation by Repórter Brasil.
Allegations concerning the origin of the ore
According to the prosecutor’s office, White Solder transferred 166 million Brazilian reals, or about $32.5 million, to the tin producers’ cooperative Coopertin. Coopertin is accused of concealing the origin of more than 525 tonnes of cassiterite illegally mined on Yanomami territory in 2021–2022.
Cassiterite is a raw material used to produce tin, which is used as solder in some technologies. White Solder describes itself as one of the world’s largest tin producers.
Supplies to US companies
According to documents analyzed by Repórter Brasil, White Solder supplied at least 525 tonnes of tin to the US-based Indium Corporation between May 2023 and August 2025. Indium Corporation, in turn, supplied solders to Raytheon, a major US defense contractor that produces, among other things, radars and precision-guided missiles.
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White Solder also supplied at least 2,400 tonnes of tin to Nathan Trotter, a US producer of tin and solder, in 2021–2025, according to the investigation. In 2024, the US Department of Defense awarded Nathan Trotter a $19 million contract to build a tin smelting, refining, and recycling facility in Pennsylvania.
Other findings of the investigation
A separate Repórter Brasil report stated that White Solder declared the purchase of more than 2,300 tonnes of cassiterite from two authorized sites in the state of Rondônia in 2020–2025. At the same time, satellite imagery, aerial photography, and field research found no signs of mining there. Greenpeace Brasil, which participated in the investigation, called these sites “ghost mines” that could potentially have been used to conceal the origin of illegally mined minerals.
Indium Corporation told Repórter Brasil that White Solder met the Responsible Minerals Initiative criteria at the time of the metal deliveries. The company did not specify whether White Solder remains its supplier. White Solder, Nathan Trotter, Coopertin, Raytheon, and the US Department of Defense did not respond to journalists’ inquiries.
