Vale acquires rights to three titanium mines in Goiás.

Goiás247_ The mining company Vale was the winning bidder for titanium exploration rights in Goiás, held on Tuesday (19) by the State government. The areas whose exploration rights will be ceded and transferred to Vale belonged to Metago (Metais de Goiás S/A), a public company in liquidation, and are located in the region between the municipalities of Catalão and Ouvidor, in the Southeast of the State.

There were two bidding processes for three areas, two belonging to Metago (areas 4 and 6) and one (area 7) belonging to Mineração Xerentes, a subsidiary of Metago. Vale won the bid offering R$ 8 million for areas 4 and 6 and R$ 1 million for area 7, plus 8% royalties on the exploitation of any mineral that may be mined in areas 4 and 6 and 2% in area 7. The bidding document defined the minimum bid for the concession of the Metago areas as R$ 4 million and R$ 1 million for the Mineração Xerentes area, plus a minimum percentage of 2% royalties on mining in any of the three areas. The bidding was of the highest offer type.

Together, the three areas hold reserves of approximately 85 million tons of titanium, a mineral used in the manufacture of paints, computers, musical instruments, bicycles, bone implant parts, among other things. Brazil holds the largest titanium deposits in the world; almost all of this reserve is concentrated in Minas Gerais and Goiás, specifically in the Catalão region, where the areas under concession to Metago are located.

Result

According to the president of Proliquidação, Jailton Paulo Naves, the outcome of the bidding process exceeded expectations. “Especially regarding royalties, which came in higher than we anticipated. The result was very good and demonstrated the effectiveness of the process,” celebrated the executive from the Government's Liquidation Prosecutor's Office. According to Naves, 17 companies acquired the bidding documents, but only two made the 1% security deposit on the value of the areas to participate in the bidding. The other participating company was Mave Mineração, from Minas Gerais.

Naves also reported that, according to the contract, Vale has five years to begin mining at the site, under penalty of a fine of R$ 200 per year, adjusted for inflation. The mineral exploration rights for the areas are a concession from the Federal Government (via the National Department of Mineral Production – DNPM) to Metago. The Goiás state-owned company submitted a research request to the DNPM only for titanium exploration. However, since the company has entered liquidation, it will transfer these mining rights. As stipulated by the Mining Code, any other mineral discovered in the area, in addition to the one licensed, must be reported to the DNPM for a new mining authorization.