Mining

With the discovery of emeralds in the region the population reached almost 50 thousand in the 1990s, but has now dropped to fewer than 7 thousand.

It is the typical example of the mining town that grew overnight, with almost no infrastructure, and soon lost its population due to the disappearance of the mineral that had created its wealth. Today Campos Verdes is known by many as a ghost town.

Campos Verdes began when minerals were discovered in 1981. Attracted by the mines, the first settlers began to arrive, forming a settlement called Garimpo, which at the time was a district of Santa Terezinha de Goiás. In 1987 it was raised to the status of municipality.

Agriculture

Despite the drop in mineral activity there is still agricultural production based on cattle raising (34,500 head in 2006) and plantations with modest production of pineapple, rice, sugarcane, manioc, and corn. In 2006 there were 224 agricultural units with 1,157 hectares under cultivation. There were 25,476 hectares of pasture. Approximately 600 persons were involved in agriculture. There was one bank.