Could you introduce us to Mineração Taboca?

Mineração Taboca was founded in 1969 and operates in the mining and metallurgy of tin and industrial minerals. It is one of the few companies active in the global tin market that owns its own mine, the Pitinga mine, located in the Amazon Region, which is one of the richest tin and tantalum mines in the world. In 2008 Taboca became part of the Peruvian company Minsur enhancing its technological and operational efficiency. Taboca operates two sites in Brazil, the mineral and metallurgical complex Pìtinga in Presidente Figueiredo, Amazonas, and the tin smelter in Pirapora do Bom Jesus in the metropolitan region of São Paulo. Pitinga hosts a mine and beneficiation plant where concentrates are produced, along with a ferroalloy smelter for niobium and tantalum alloys production. Additionally, it has its own hydroelectric power plant for self-consumption. In Pirapora, the smelter processes the concentrate to produce high-grade metallic tin.

What is the infrastructure and legal environment in Amazonas for mining?

Although Manaus has a very expressive industrial hub mainly due to the “Zona Franca” tax free area, the region is not really a mining area and Taboca is the largest mine operation in Amazonas State. Additionally, we are in a very remote area which gives extra challenges to attract talents and suppliers for the region. Having its main activity in the middle of the forest and with Indigenous communities in our neighborhood involves extra caution in order to assure the highest standards of ESG and comply with all legislation and agreements we have with all stakeholders.

Can you discuss the state of global tin markets and how they impact your operations?

The electrical transition, advances in artificial intelligence, 5G technologies, electrical vehicles among other are significant boosters for tin consumption alongside with tinplate applications also. Supply constraints can be a challenge because many of the major tin producing countries are facing regulatory, environmental and operational hurdles. 

How does Mineração Taboca incorporate ESG commitments in its operations?

We operate in a sensitive environmental context. We are adjacent to a biological reserve and two Indigenous communities. With one of them we have a long-term agreement to allow access to our properties. Maintaining good relationships with these communities is crucial. Overall, we have cultivated a positive relationship with the communities and the state, contributing to development and generating employment. We have responsible mineral initiative certifications for our tin and tantalum smelters, controlling the entire supply chain from our mines to smelters. Taboca is ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001 certified. We follow ICMM sustainability requirements. Our governance includes ethical practices, and we implement policies to support this. We are committed to the sustainable development of our activities and to fully complying with legislations and regulations applicable to our operations. We ensure the efficient use of natural resources, with special emphasis on the protection, respect and care of the environment, biodiversity and natural ecosystems in the company's areas of influence.

What are Mineração Taboca’s objectives for the coming year?

We have strong growth potential, with our operation supporting a mine life of several decades yet and, on top of it, we have still unexplored promising deposits to add additional mine life but, also, we have many other minerals in the existing deposit that are not yet being exploited. We could name for instance rare earth elements, hafnium, zircon and cryolite. For the next years, our focus is on cost controls and continuous improvement of the existing operations, further developments of what we call phase 3 project to improve final quality of our ferroalloys, and advance in our lab scale tests to produce rare earth concentrates. Pitinga has a massive potential to enter this market with preliminary studies showing a high quality and long-lasting resource of those materials with particular attention for the heavy elements. We developed a full potential study that will guide us for the best strategy for maximizing value from the asset for the future and will pursue that in the coming years. Furthermore, we remain resolute in our "Evolution" project, which aims to solidify our purpose of “Improving lives, transforming minerals into wellbeing”. This initiative ensures a safe, healthy, inclusive, and holistic environment, consistently enhancing the well-being of our employees, partners, and surrounding communities.