The mining industry in the country will invest US$ 40.4 billion (about R$ 200 billion) over the next five years, said this Tuesday (26) the Ibram (Brazilian Mining Institute), in an interview in which it demanded from the government more funds for the sector’s regulatory agency and again criticized the project that allows mining in indigenous lands.
The iron ore segment concentrates a third of the planned contributions, but there is also a forecast of high resources for fertilizers and bauxite, each with an investment forecast of US$ 5.7 billion (about R$ 28 billion) between 2022 and 2026 .
The total volume of estimated resources is US$ 900 million (R$ 4.5 billion) lower than the projection made for the period between 2021 and 2025 and also includes contributions to the de-characterization of dams similar to those that broke in Brumadinho (MG) and Mariana (MG).
In this Tuesday’s interview, the president of Ibram, Raul Jungmann criticized the contingency of funds from the ANM (National Mining Agency), which is responsible for regulating the sector and collecting royalties charged on mineral production.
“Strengthening the ANM is strategic, which unfortunately has not been seen in the budget, in the allocation of resources,” said Jungmann, who has been Minister of Defense and Agrarian Reform in the Temer and FHC administrations, respectively.
According to Ibram, the agency currently has few inspection and technological resources to fulfill its role. Jungmann says she should keep around 7% of royalties, which totaled R$1.5 billion in the first quarter, but has only received 1%.
Production and revenues in the mining sector fell in the first three months of 2022 as Chinese demand slowed as it tried to stave off a new wave of Covid-19 and cut its steel production during the Winter Olympics.
Revenues fell 20% compared to the first quarter of 2021, to R$56.2 billion. Production dropped 13% in the same period, to 200 million tons. The heavy rains that fell on Minas Gerais also contributed to the retreat.
Contrary to the terms of PL 191/2020, which allows mining in indigenous territories, Ibram has been lobbying the government and Congress to change the text, which assesses that it does not resolve the legal gaps for industrial activity in these areas.
Jungmann cited as an example the lack of an obligation to consult the affected peoples in advance, as provided for in an ILO (International Labor Organization) convention. Ibram also calls for greater focus on combating illegal mining.
“It is necessary that this project be absolutely clear about the issue of illegal mining, of prospecting”, says the director of the institute Julio Nery. “Illegal mining is a crime. Illegal mining destroys nature and the community.”
Defended by President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), the opening of indigenous lands to mining is resisted by indigenous leaders, environmental organizations and the Federal Public Ministry, which in March went public again to demonstrate its opposition to the proposal.
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