Reuters reported that deforestation in the Brazilian portion of the Amazon rose 55% in the first four months of 2020 compared to the previous year, with environmental organisations attributing the rise to Bolsonaro’s emboldening of illegal loggers, miners, and ranchers.
While the Brazilian president lauds the opportunities presented to Brazil by opening indigenous lands to mining, indigenous peoples have called this “a project of death”. Despite the opposition, the Brazilian Government is determined to continue.
“The current government has a very well defined and clear agenda for the country's mining, with the objective of transforming mineral heritage into wealth and achieving the quantitative and qualitative growth of Brazilian mining,” Vidigal says. “That is, a growth of mineral production with responsibility, attentive to the best practices of sustainability, governance and management.
“With its vast territory, recognised geological potential, skilled labour and large investments in infrastructure and regulatory stability, Brazil has moved to a new phase in the performance of mineral activity, seeking to develop mining to develop the country.”
Vidigal says that current projects being researched focus on several strategic minerals in the country, including potassium for the manufacture of fertilisers as well as critical materials for batteries and renewable energy technologies such as copper, nickel, lithium, and graphite.
The country has aimed to court international interest in its mining opportunities and last year the Geological Survey of Brazil launched maps of mineral prospectivity in the country at PDAC 2020, one of the largest international mining conventions.