Mining cooperatives in Brazil: an overview

Abstract

In the current literature, cooperatives are commonly linked to a network of contracts or coalition. This is particularly the case of producer owned cooperatives that operate in small business scale such as farmers or diggers which are members of the cooperative. Mining cooperatives wield significant influence over the mining sector. These organizations have been getting increasing importance as powerful actors to support diggers through initiatives and policies to improve small-scale mining activities. In spite of the importance of cooperatives to the local communities and small companies, scientific literature concerning their organization, benefits and barriers are still scarce. The objective of this research was to examine the actual scenario of mining cooperatives in Brazil analyzing how mining cooperatives could be used as a sustainable strategic network into the mining sector in Brazil.