How key Brazilian mining states want to boost the industry

Representatives of established and aspiring Brazilian mining states presented their initiatives at the Exposibram annual event, hosted by industry association Ibram. 

Pará and Minas Gerais are established players, but Bahia and Amazonas are catching up and are increasingly important.

Pará is focused on production, regulation, start-up and persuasion, always considering sustainability, Lilian Gualberto, coordinator of project structuring at the economic development, mining and energy secretariat, told the event, according to a press release.

According to Gualberto, the guidelines and goals were transformed into government actions through a multi-year plan. “It is where the population can see, monitor and make demands. By law, the state, the [federal government] and the municipalities are required to have this kind of planning,” she said.

Mining titan Vale operates the Carajás open-pit iron ore mine in the state, considered the largest in the world. The state has always tried to persuade Vale to invest more, and not only in iron ore production.

Gualberto said authorities are working on measures to reduce the mining sector’s carbon footprint, promote mineral diversification, transform industrial waste into biomass and fund research and economic diversification.

Minas Gerais, the first state to develop industrial mining in Brazil, is implementing a strategy “to always promote the activity responsibly, but always ensuring that what can be used in mining is returned to our population in terms of economic development,” economic development secretary Pedro Sena Batista said.

But Minas Gerais also saw the biggest mining disasters in Brazil’s history. One tailings dam collapsed in 2015 in Mariana city and another in Brumadinho in 2019, both causing a large number of fatalities and environmental destruction.

Financial compensation that has so far been paid by the mining companies involved in the incidents – some negotiations are still underway – were mainly used to fund infrastructure and economic diversification.

Northeastern Bahia state seeks to encourage the training of the local labor force, as the government eyes iron ore and energy transition minerals.

“We want to leave a positive legacy wherever mining operates, this is our big motto today,” Carlos Borel Neto, president of state mineral company CBPM, said.

Amazonas, Brazil’s largest state, hosts various unexplored areas and wants to incentivize mining.

“Our activities began in January this year, with the mission of formulating, coordinating and implementing public policies,” said Oziel Oliveira Mineiro, who heads the recently created mining, energy and gas secretariat.

He highlighted the state’s commitment to sustainable development, economic growth, community engagement, the regulatory framework and resource management.