Authorizations for the exploration of niobium in the Amazon more than doubled under the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL), an enthusiast and promoter of the metal before and after his arrival to the Presidency of the Republic.
The areas with surveys authorized by the ANM (National Mining Agency) include nine agrarian reform settlements, with no evidence that the settlers have been consulted, and fringes of two indigenous lands and a federal conservation unit.
Bolsonaro uses niobium as an argument for defending mining in conserved areas in the Amazon, especially in indigenous lands, which is prohibited by the Federal Constitution.
In 2020, the government sent a bill to Congress that seeks to regulate authorizations for mineral exploration in indigenous lands. The project did not move forward.
The president repeats his speech on niobium frequently – he has even taken it to the UN General Assembly, in the traditional opening speech of the annual conference made by the leader of Brazil.
The Chief Executive ignores in the speeches that the country is already the main producer of the metal, with 88% of the world total, and that explored deposits – mainly in Minas Gerais – have enough material to supply the market in the coming decades. There is a lack of demand for niobium, which is used to make metal alloys lighter and stronger.
With Bolsonaro’s offensive, the requirements for the exploration of the metal, the subsequent research authorizations and the approval for the search for niobium in the Amazon exploded.
A survey carried out by leaf in the ANM process system shows that 295 applications for the exploration of niobium were filed in 2019, 2020 and 2021, the first three years of the Bolsonaro government. The ANM granted 171 research authorizations in the period, of which 64 were for the Legal Amazon region.
In the triennium from 2016 to 2018, there were 120 requests and 74 research authorizations, of which 25 for the Amazon. Thus, the increase in approval for niobium exploration in the Amazon was 156% under the Bolsonaro government.
The comparison with the previous triennium shows an explosion of research authorizations. Between 2013 and 2015, there were 9 authorizations in the Amazon, according to the ANM system. The 64 granted between 2019 and 2021 thus represent an increase of 611%.
The research license allows prospecting for the metal and already involves high expenses on the part of companies and interested individuals.
Expenses with infrastructure, drilling, processing, experimental mining and trenches can reach R$ 1 million, according to the amounts informed to the ANM.
In the case of niobium, the most common is for interested parties to seek authorization to explore the metal together with other ores, such as tantalum, bauxite and manganese.
The increase in authorizations for niobium in the Bolsonaro government is higher than that seen with other substances. Tantalum, for example, remained stable from one triennium to the next.
The requests made in the three years of government, which involve niobium, add up to an area of 1 million hectares, equivalent to the area of 6.5 cities in São Paulo. Between 2016 and 2018, the requirements targeted total areas of 394 thousand hectares, or 2.5 state capitals.
The survey carried out by leaf in public data maintained by the ANM shows that 18 (28.1%) of the 64 authorizations for researching niobium in the Amazon in the last three years go through agrarian reform settlements structured by Incra (National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform).
In all, there are nine settlements in Amazonas, Amapá, Pará, Rondônia and Roraima, where 8,500 families are settled, according to data updated by Incra in November 2021.
The documents available in the ANM processes do not indicate that the communities have been consulted about the exploitation of niobium in the areas of the settlements. There are documents that indicate Incra’s approval, as long as there is prior communication about the start of the research.
“Incra did not participate in the authorization processes for research in the settlements. The ANM should be consulted to provide further clarification,” the agency said in a statement. The ANM did not respond to questions in the report.
According to Incra, there is no prohibition for research and development of mining activities in agrarian reform settlements. “Incra and the beneficiaries of the agrarian reform will be consulted at the environmental licensing stage to define mitigating and compensatory measures.”
At least two processes for niobium exploration involve fringes of indigenous lands in the Amazon, according to maps produced by the ANM.
Businessman João Carlos da Silva Martins, from the city of Pontes e Lacerda (MT), is the record holder in authorizations for researching niobium and other minerals in agrarian reform settlements (five authorizations) and in areas adjacent to indigenous lands (two authorizations) .
ANM documents show that the indigenous land is the Waimiri Atroari, where 2,000 indigenous people live — among them isolated from the headwaters of the Camanaú River, according to a survey carried out by ISA (Instituto Socioambiental). The report did not locate Martins.
Transport entrepreneur Marcos Vizone Carvalho, from Lábrea (AM), obtained authorization from the ANM to research niobium and cassiterite in an area of 1,166 hectares in Manicoré (AM).
The process documents show that the area includes borders of the Tenharim Marmelos indigenous land, where 535 indigenous terim live.
“The area is not on indigenous land, it is close to the indigenous land, about 300 to 400 meters. There is a highway dividing it,” Carvalho told leaf.
According to the businessman, this is the first time he has obtained authorization to research niobium. “I dreamed of it. I dreamed of coal and niobium appeared. My expectation is to sell the metal within Brazil.”
Questioned by the report, Funai (Fundação Nacional do Índio) did not answer whether it participated in the authorizations given by the ANM and whether it agrees with the areas allowed for niobium research.
Other projects border federal conservation units, reaching to touch these units, as is the case of the Campos Amazônicos National Park, in Amazonas.
ICMBio (Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade) said it had not received any consultations about niobium research in protected areas.
Source: Folha
