"In Search of Transparency: Ending Opacity in Brazil's Extractive Sector - An action-research case study of the Minas-Rio iron ore mine", 07 October 2021

...In 2019-20 IBASE and PWYP UK undertook joint transparency, public participation and advocacy action research on Brazil’s extractive sector. We focused on a single mining project: Anglo American’s Minas-Rio open-pit iron ore mine in the municipality of Conceição do Mato Dentro, Minas Gerais State, and its associated tailings facility. Minas-Rio is the world’s ninth largest iron ore mine...

There is very limited transparency in Brazil about extractive industry fiscal flows...[T]he distribution of benefits and harms appears to favour urban over rural communities and to disproportionately affect low-income households and people of colour, with especially negative impacts on local water resources and food growing...

Anglo American’s environmental impact assessments, economic diversification efforts, community dialogue and resettlement plans appear inadequate from the perspective of affected communities, who experience water deficiency, airborne pollution, impaired livelihoods, economic loss, and physical and psycho-social ill-health.

Tailings dam breach is a major fear among people downstream of Minas-Rio, especially given Brazil’s history of tailings disasters...

To Anglo American:

Undertake a comprehensive human rights impact assessment, including all internationally recognised human rights as a reference point, of Minas-Rio and its tailings and pipeline; publish (including in Portuguese) and implement a human rights management plan to address issues identified; repeat the exercise every three years...

Seek the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of affected communities...

Implement comprehensive compensatory measures for mining-affected rural, lowincome and black communities.

Encourage the Brazilian government to join and implement the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)...

Review Minas-Rio’s tailings management and communications with at-risk communities in light of the present report’s findings...