- For more than a decade, Potássio do Brasil, a Canadian-backed mining company, has tried to exploit the Brazilian Amazon’s potash reserves, despite legal challenges.
- In April, the Amazonas Environmental Protection Institute (IPAAM) granted the company several installation licenses, which authorized the project’s implementation as well as the construction of a road and shipping port.
- According to the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) and Funai, the issuance of these licenses by the Amazonas government was illegal, as the project overlaps with Indigenous lands and many communities were not consulted.
- Many Mura residents, most of whom are concerned about the impact the project will have on the environment and their livelihoods, say the company did not consult them and instead co-opted leaders and falsified documents.
The Amazonas Environmental Protection Institute (IPAAM) has come under harsh scrutiny by authorities and Indigenous leaders for granting installation licenses to the Canadian-backed mining company Potássio do Brasil without considering the affected Indigenous communities or the environmental consequences of the project.
The underground potash mine, located in the municipality of Autazes, in the Amazonas state, will produce the inputs needed to make up 20% of the fertilizers consumed by Brazil’s agribusiness. This project is attractive to the country’s powerful agribusiness lobby, which is seeking to reduce the country’s reliance on imported fertilizers.
Brazil is one of the world’s largest importers of potash and is almost entirely dependent on countries like Russia, whose supplies dwindled and prices soared after it invaded Ukraine in 2022, dealing a heavy blow to Brazil’s agricultural sector. Prices have since fallen, as Russia’s share of global potash exports increased from 16% in 2022 to 20% in 2023.
The installation licenses were issued in April. In May, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) requested the suspension of the licenses, claiming the project violates the rights of Indigenous communities and other populations that use or depend on the Amazon River, as stated in a press release.
The federal prosecutors said the licenses granted by IPAAM authorizing the project’s implementation, as well as the construction of a road and shipping port, were issued despite irregularities in the environmental licensing process and violations committed by the company. In addition, the mine overlaps with several Indigenous lands, including those of the Mura, Jauary and Paracuhuba peoples, which are either demarcated or in the process of being demarcated by Brazil’s Indigenous affairs agency, Funai.
According to the prosecutors, the company did not consult all the affected communities and co-opted leaders and communities. Herton Filgueira Mura, a teacher and leader of the Mura peoples, told Mongabay over WhatsApp voice messages that his community has a consultation protocol that was not respected by the company.
“There was never a consultation,” he said. “Unfortunately, the company co-opted some leaders from the municipality of Autazes and these leaders stand up today saying they are in favor of the project, some even claiming that there was a consultation. There was even a falsification of documents, of meeting minutes saying that they were consulted, but that never happened.”
Potássio do Brasil wrote in a press release that it did obtain local Indigenous peoples’ free, prior and informed consent. The company did not respond to Mongabay’s requests for comment by the time of publication.
IPAAM told Mongabay “the entire licensing procedure was conducted based on the necessary environmental studies, as established by current environmental legislation.”
“These studies provided the essential foundations for decisions in the licensing process,” it added, “ensuring the implementation of the necessary mitigating measures and the adequate management of impacts on the environment and directly affected populations.”
Filgueira also added that there are audio recordings of Indigenous leaders talking about dividing resources that most likely came from the Potássio do Brasil, as the Mura Indigenous Council, which represents them, does not have the type of money discussed in the recordings. Within a couple of hours, some Indigenous leaders who were completely against mining suddenly changed their minds, he said.
This was repeated by other members of the Indigenous community, such as Milena Correa Mura, president and coordinator of the Mura Indigenous Women’s Organization, who told Mongabay over WhatsApp messages that Potássio do Brasil “influenced other leaders to accept the company, falsifying documents, holding meetings and stating to the state, municipal and even federal government that all of the Mura peoples were in agreement, when it was a lie.”
Nevertheless, the company obtained all the licenses needed and, by late September, it started building on the Autazes site.
Community and environmental impacts
Potássio do Brasil first arrived in Autazes more than a decade ago and it quickly drew backlash from the Mura peoples, who denounced the company for secretly prospecting on their Indigenous lands without their permission and removing sacred burial urns for exploratory drilling. The Lago do Soares and Urucurituba Mura Indigenous lands have not yet been formally recognized by the Brazilian government, which is the reasoning the company has maintained to back up its actions.
Funai told Mongabay in an email that it has established a technical group to carry out the land studies necessary for the identification and delimitation of Lago do Soares and Urucurituba. According to the agency, this land overlaps with the areas of deposits subject to explorative demand by the company, as verified by cartographic analysis.
“In accordance with the decision of the Funai Board of Directors, a request was made to suspend the licensing process until the studies that support Funai’s statement to the competent licensing body are completed,” a Funai spokesperson wrote in an email. The licensor and company did not respond to their requests, and they were “surprised” to learn “through the press” about the issuance of the licenses.
Correa is concerned that the project will bring invaders, legal and illegal drugs, disease, sexual abuse and prostitution to her village. “With the arrival of the company, there will be more destruction of the environment, of the forests and rivers we rely on to survive,” she said.
Funai told Mongabay that the project’s Indigenous Component Study found “several impacts on the physical, biotic and socioeconomic environments for the Mura, in all phases of the project — planning, installation, operation and closure, and that such interferences were not properly addressed.”
Studies have shown that potash mining can cause the salinization of groundwater and surface water, as crude salt extracted underground during the mining process is often discharged into nearby water sources. This can change the chemical composition of these water sources, leading to land and biological degradation.
The MPF wrote in a press release that the risk of salinization “could generate unpredictable consequences.” In the lawsuit, the federal prosecutors also argued that the waste pile was designed to be located in a flood-prone area, despite the risk of water contamination with brine.
“We get our food from our forests, rivers and lakes, which is our way of being self-sustainable,” Correa said. “Without them, we cannot plant or fish. We also have sacred things [spirits] that we need to preserve and care for so they do not disappear. Our children need a place to live in the future.”
Banner image: A young Indigenous man handles fish in the Soares community, of the Mura people. Image courtesy of Bruno Kelly/Amazônia Real (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
In Brazilian Amazon, mining harm comes from beyond just the mines, study shows
Citation:
Ushakova, E., Perevoshchikova, A., Menshikova, E., Khayrulina, E., Perevoshchikov, R. & Belkin, P. (2023). Environmental Aspects of Potash Mining: A Case Study of the Verkhnekamskoe Potash Deposit. Mining, 3(2), 176-204. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/mining3020011
FEEDBACK: Use this form to send a message to the author of this post. If you want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page.