Company wants to extract gold in area affected by the Mariana tragedy.

By Léo Rodrigues/Agência Brasil - A request for a license to extract gold in Mariana (MG) is currently being processed by the Secretariat of Environment and Sustainable Development of Minas Gerais (Semad). To carry out the activity, it would be necessary to divert the course of the Gualaxo do Norte River, a tributary of the Doce River.

The site targeted for exploration is 8 kilometers from the district of Bento Rodrigues and was devastated in the country's biggest environmental tragedy, when a dam belonging to the Samarco mining company broke, releasing approximately 60 million cubic meters of tailings. The incident, which caused 19 deaths, destruction of communities, devastation of vegetation and pollution of the Rio Doce basin, completed two years last Sunday (5).

According to engineer Maria Conceição Bittencourt, who provides consulting services to Fênix Mineração, the potential impacts are detailed in the mining company's request. "The environmental agency will still analyze and inspect the site and, if it approves, it should impose conditions and mitigating measures. This is always done."

The project application was submitted to Semad in March of this year, along with the technical report and the Environmental Impact Study (EIA). In the documents, the company argues that diverting the Gualaxo do Norte River for approximately 1,5 kilometers is necessary for the activities to be carried out.

"Its objective is to preserve its quality and the reshaping of the channel, which is currently quite silted up and with a good part of its original bed already displaced due to the rupture of the Samarco tailings dam," the document adds.

According to Semad, the request for a preliminary license and an installation license has not yet begun its analysis. "According to the project characterization form, completed by the entrepreneur, the request is for 50 tons per year of gross production," the agency informed. Potential harm to the environmental recovery process of the area will be evaluated during the analysis.

The Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) estimates that approximately 6,1 million cubic meters of tailings remain stored from the confluence of the Gualaxo do Norte River with the Santarém Stream in Mariana to the Candonga Hydroelectric Plant in Santa Cruz do Escalvado (MG). In a statement, the agency reports that, considering the magnitude of the tragedy, the Gualaxo do Norte River has been showing signs of recovery and improvement in its environmental quality. "Some indicators of this are the return of colonization by aquatic biodiversity and improvements in turbidity levels in several stretches," the text notes.

Ibama is one of the public agencies that make up the Interfederative Committee, created to oversee the environmental recovery actions following the tragedy. These actions are carried out by the Renova Foundation, an institution created according to an agreement signed between Samarco, its shareholders Vale and BHP Billiton, the governments of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo, and the federal government.

According to Ibama, the improvement of the conditions of the Gualaxo do Norte River "depends on the continuity of the commitments made by the Renova Foundation, in addition to environmental monitoring to track the evolution of each point." In turn, the Renova Foundation was questioned by... Agency Brazil Regarding the request from Fênix Mineração, they declined to comment. They only stated that they "have no connection with the aforementioned licensing process."

City hall approval

The mining company has already obtained the compliance letter from the municipality of Mariana. This document, which certifies that the proposed project complies with municipal land use and occupation laws, is a prerequisite for applying for a license from Semad (State Secretariat for the Environment and Sustainable Development).

To sign the letter, Mayor Duarte Júnior states that he needed the support of the Municipal Council for Environmental Development (Codema). He affirms, however, that the final decision rests with Semad.

“It is not up to Codema to authorize or not the extraction of any type of mineral. What it does is analyze the EIA [Environmental Impact Study] and verify if what the company presented complies with existing regulations so that the activity can be carried out. It is only an authorization for the process to continue, but there is no guarantee that the project will be put into practice. Giving that guarantee is the responsibility of the state government,” says the mayor.

Duarte Júnior also emphasizes that a large program is underway, carried out jointly with other municipalities, aimed at the recovery of the Gualaxo do Norte River, the Carmo River, and the Doce River. “It's an investment of almost R$ 500 million. And obviously, we will be vigilant if there is any risk of damage. In Mariana, we also have our environmental code pending approval. And we want to have the prerogative that, even with state authorization, the municipality can suspend a project if any type of risk is detected.”

Economic impact

The impacts of the economic crisis affecting the entire country have been exacerbated in Mariana by the shutdown of Samarco's activities, which has no scheduled date for resuming operations. According to the city hall, approximately 25% of the active population is unemployed. Revenue from the Financial Compensation for the Exploitation of Mineral Resources (CFEM), known as the... royalty Revenue from mining was R$145 in March of this year. In the same month, R$577 was collected in 2013, R$563 in 2014, and R$892 in 2015.

The situation is likely to worsen, as the municipality is receiving its share of the tax on the circulation of goods and services (ICMS) retroactively for two years. This tax is paid by companies that carry out sales, transfers, and transportation of goods or transportation and communication services. Many of these companies in Mariana had contracts with Samarco and have reduced or ceased their activities. With the two-year anniversary of the tragedy, the city hall predicts a drop of R$4 million per year in ICMS revenue.

According to Mayor Duarte Júnior, the activities of Fênix Mineração would not have a significant impact on the municipality's economy. "It would be very gradual. They intend to start with something small. It's impossible to say that it would be a solution for income or the creation of new jobs in the municipality. I can't say for sure, but I imagine it would initially create around 20 jobs," he says.