Belo Monte opposes Belo Sun, which wants to explore 60 tons of gold in the Volta Grande do Xingu

The company responsible for the Belo Monte hydroelectric power plant, an undertaking that had a definitive impact on life and biological cycles in Volta Grande do Xingu, opposed a project to explore at least 60 tons of gold in the region and pointed out risks to the quality of water, for the flow and for the existence of fish if the mining activity is carried out.

Belo Monte is opposed to Belo Sun, a Canadian enterprise that wants to explore five tons of gold per year, for at least 12 years, in one of the most sensitive regions of the Brazilian Amazon.

The region is already heavily impacted —in terms of water quality, flow and the existence of fish— by the hydroelectric plant made possible during the governments of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and Dilma Rousseff (PT).

Volta Grande is located in the middle Xingu, and is made up of dozens of riverside communities and indigenous lands that depend on fishing for their survival.

Belo Monte killed a stretch of the river and left thousands of fishermen without fish to catch, like the Sheet showed in a series of reports in October and November.

Those responsible for the plant say they have adopted all the measures to guarantee fishing and have defined the compensation payment of BRL 20,000 to 1,976 fishermen, for the time in which mitigation measures were not adopted.

After the plant, the high-impact mining project became a matter of concern for the communities.

Belo Sun is located in Senador José Porfírio (PA), a city 160 km from Altamira (PA), the municipality most impacted by Belo Monte. The two developments are neighbors and have direct impacts on Volta Grande do Xingu.

Norte Energia, which is the group of companies responsible for Belo Monte, sent a letter to Semas (Secretary for the Environment and Sustainability) of Pará and asked for a reassessment of the licensing process for Belo Sun, given the “conflict between activities and risk of implementation of mining activity in conjunction with the operation of the Belo Monte plant”.

The letter was sent on March 14, 2022. It was addressed to Semas, which handles environmental licenses at the state level; to the environmental licensing department of Ibama (Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources); the licensing coordination of Funai (National Indian Foundation); and to the state and federal MP (Ministério Público) in Pará.

“Studies indicated incompatibility between the hydroelectric and mining undertakings”, cites the letter.

Semas issued preliminary licenses to Belo Sun, in 2014, and installation licenses, in 2017. The MPF asked for the suspension of authorizations and the transfer of licensing to the federal sphere, that is, to Ibama. Gold mining in the region would impact riverside and indigenous communities.

The Federal Court suspended the license, which was confirmed by the TRF (Federal Regional Court) of the 1st Region in April of this year. The suspension continues indefinitely.

The discussion on Belo Sun, in addition to judicialization, must be carried out by the Lula government. About Belo Monte, the president-elect has already said that he would do the project again.

In the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL), Ibama claimed not to be responsible for the licensing process.

“Ibama understands that the environmental licensing of the Belo Sun undertaking is a state responsibility,” the agency said in a note. “It is also important to point out that the issue has been judicialized.”

Semas said, in a note, that licensing has been suspended since 2018 due to a court decision. The body did not respond to questions about Norte Energia’s letter or the notes made.

The company responsible for Belo Monte, which includes Eletrobras, Petros, Funcef, Neoenergia, Vale, Sinobras, Light, Cemig and J. Malucelli Energia in the official letter, cited environmental studies carried out in 2013, the year before the preliminary license issued by Shemas to Belo Sun. These studies were sent to the environmental agency, according to Norte Energia.

There was a request to include documents, such as a report with “a list of incompatibilities for the common existence of the Belo Monte and Belo Sun developments”.

The 2013 document already requested suspension of the licensing process, due to the lack of consultation with the indigenous people of the Paquiçamba lands, 12.6 km from the mineral prospecting area, and Arara da Volta Grande, 10.4 km away, according to North Energy. Both territories are directly impacted by Belo Monte.

Norte Energia also pointed out risks to the quality and flow of water in Volta Grande do Xingu, with the possibility of contamination in the section with reduced flow. Another risk is the impact on the ichthyofauna (fish) due to “disturbances, silting and contamination of tributary drainages”, more possibility of an increase in vessels and impacts on riverside communities.

Questioned by the report about the disputes made to the Belo Sun project, Norte Energia said it will not manifest itself.

Belo Sun’s general manager, Rodrigo Costa, stated that the 2022 letter is just a copy of the 2013 letter.

“Norte Energia’s official letter was resubmitted and highlighted by the MPF to reinforce the thesis of federalization [do processo de licenciamento]although Ibama has already formally expressed its opposition to this at least three times in the case file [referente à ação movida pelo MPF]”, said Costa, by email.

According to him, the document has outdated information and “outdated by new facts” and there is no reason for Semas do Pará to be replaced by Ibama in the licensing process.

Over the past nine years, there have been changes to the engineering project and there is no longer any forecast for capturing water from the Xingu River, according to the Belo Sun manager. The water will be captured from the rain, he said.

Costa said that “zero discharge into the environment is foreseen, with the monitoring of the quality of surface and underground water”. According to the mining project manager, consultation was carried out with communities on the Paquiçamba and Arara da Volta Grande lands, with Funai’s approval of the prior license.

At the UN biodiversity COP15, held in December in Canada, Brazilian indigenous leaders protested against Belo Sun and denounced the negative impacts of the project.

“Belo Sun had a high-level institutional relationship with Norte Energia for some time, formally sharing all this information, and naturally it has already explicitly expressed its surprise by this last letter of March 14, 2022”, said Costa. “The Volta Grande project is more robust than ever.”

The Belo Sun mining project is named as a venture by the Canadian bank Forbes & Manhattan in a publication on the company’s website in April 2022.

_{The Planeta em Transe project is supported by the Open Society Foundations.}