MINING – Brazil’s Cruzeiro tourmaline Mine rebrands to reflect high operational standards, responsible sourcing

By David Brough

Brazil’s Cruzeiro Mine is rebranding to reflect the high standards of its operations, including responsible sourcing of its tourmalines.

“World-leading tourmaline producer Cruzeiro Mine is proud to announce its official rebranding to reflect the new positioning of the company, achieved via huge strides in not just its operations but its production over the last decade,” the company said.

Headquartered in the city of Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais, Brazil’s richly resourced mining state, Cruzeiro Mine is the biggest mine of its kind in the world, producing some of the highest quality tourmaline and rubellite along with other minerals.

“More people realize the benefits of employing a single-mine-origin gemstone in their designs,” said Douglas Neves, CEO of Cruzeiro Mine.

“The well-known 40-year-old story of the Cruzeiro Mine as a source of conflict-free, responsible extraction of its tourmalines (but also morganites, quartz and mica), makes it a top of mind candidate when you think of provenance in gemstones. The outlook is of unavoidable concern for the origin of the material, and the market shift has shown that we have a strong position in that field, with many important brands reaching out to us for collaboration.”

Rough rubellites from Cruzeiro Mine

The market for tourmalines is buoyant globally, notably with a high level of Chinese demand, Neves said.

Cruzeiro Mine is consistently modernizing and improving management and operating practices, investing in professional qualifications and in knowledge. The mine hired a consultancy of experienced international mining engineers, geologists and gemmologists, with special attention on sustainability. Today, Cruzeiro Mine has one of the lowest percentages of tailings in the world for its type.

Until 2015, Cruzeiro Mine partnered with entities that marketed its tourmalines on the wholesale market, mainly selling rubellites in China. However, with the continuous refinement and strengthening of the Nevestones group, the company consolidated its operations to include all mining and internal processing. From 2016, the company expanded its cutting operations, and started to serve the cut gem market with a focus on wholesale in Asia and North America.