Potassium mine in AM has license questioned by the MPF – 04/09/2024 – Environment

Amazonas granted a license to the Canadian company Brazil Potash to build Latin America’s largest fertilizer mine in the Amazon rainforest, but federal prosecutors said this Tuesday (9) that this is not legally acceptable.

Governor Wilson Lima (União Brasil) announced this Monday (8) that the installation license was issued by Ipaam (Amazon Environmental Protection Institute) and that the company plans to invest R$ 13 billion to build the mine in Autazes, 120 km southeast of Manaus.

The project, which could reduce 90% of Brazilian agriculture’s dependence on imported potash, has been stalled for years due to opposition from the indigenous Mura people, who say they were not consulted about the use of their ancestral lands.

Federal authorities say that the license must come from Ibama (Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources), not the state environmental agency — whose government supports the project, arguing that it will bring investments and create thousands of jobs.

The MPF (Federal Public Ministry) in Manaus states in a statement that it considers the license granted by Ipaam “irregular and will adopt the appropriate measures”.

“The license violates constitutional rights, international standards and also the rights of indigenous peoples”, he says.

In September, a federal judge in Manaus reiterated her 2016 decision to suspend the project until the Muras were properly consulted. She also determined that the license must come from the federal environmental agency, not the state.

Subsequently, the federal court overturned an injunction that suspended Brazil Potash’s state license, arguing that Ipaam could issue the license because there is no officially recognized indigenous territory in the area planned for extraction.

Mura leaders say the area in question overlaps with land occupied by indigenous people and they seek to demarcate the territory. But the process is pending at Funai (National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples).

Potash Corp, in turn, claims that Mura leaders support the mine.

Five Mura communities, in addition to the Amazonas Indigenous Association, sent prosecutors letters seen by Reuters rejecting the governor’s announcement.

Brazil Potash belongs to CD Capital, with a 34% stake, Sentient, with 23% of the shares, and Stan Bharti’s Forbes & Manhattan Group, which now holds 14%, along with other shareholders. The Canadian Forbes & Manhattan initiated the project.