Brazilian federal prosecutors asked a judge to annul a contract between Canadian miner Belo Sun Mining and Brazil’s land rights agency to build a gold mine in the Amazon rainforest, reported Reuters.
The news agency said prosecutors back the right of families living in settlements near where the Volta Grande mine would be built to be consulted on the project before any decision allowing it to proceed.
The request to end the project, valued at 1.2 billion reais (US$242 million), is part of a lawsuit over land rights originally filed in 2022. It is the latest obstacle faced by Belo Sun in moving the Volta Grande project forward.
A separate judge previously ruled that in order for the project to advance, its environmental licenses must first be approved by the Federal Brazilian Institute of the Environment (Ibama), not state officials. Ibama has yet to issue a decision on the previously issued licenses.
Source: Reuters