Brazil Potash obtains processing plant license for US$2.5bn project

Potássio do Brasil, a subsidiary of Brazil Potash Group, received the construction license for a processing plant, enabling it to advance the US$2.5bn potash project in Autazes municipality, Amazonas state.

Overall, Amazonas state licensing agency IPAAM has issued 12 licenses for the project.

“Potássio do Brasil strictly complies with all criteria described in our licensing documents. As construction work progresses, opportunities are also emerging for the communities of Autazes and the surrounding region,” the firm’s president, Adriano Espeschit, said in a statement.

"We have started hiring people for construction, and indirect jobs are beginning to emerge through a network of service providers and suppliers that are helping us in this phase of implementation. Construction of the project, we believe, will contribute to regional and national development and to food security for Brazil and the world," added Espeschit.

However, the federal public prosecutor's office filed a lawsuit in May requesting the suspension of the construction license for the sylvinite mine that was issued earlier this year. 

According to prosecutors, licenses must be issued by federal environmental agency Ibama rather than IPAAM. In addition, prosecutors claim that the works will be carried out in indigenous areas populated by the Mura people, whose lands are in the process of demarcation.