"More than 500 companies, including nine industry giants, have mining claims in indigenous areas, Amazon Watch and Apib report finds", 22 February 2022

...The main highlights of the report are:

Data from 570 companies points to a total of 2,500 active applications overlapping with 261 indigenous lands;

Almost half of these applications (1,085) are for gold extraction;

The targeted area is almost the size of England: 10.1 million hectares;

In the cutout for the 9 mining companies, the active requests correspond to 5.7 thousand square kilometres - or about 4 times the city of São Paulo.

...The report presents a specific cutout for the nine companies above and, according to Rosana Miranda, Amazon Watch campaign advisor, there are three criteria that were taken into consideration when preparing the document. The first of these is having active applications with the ANM for exploration of indigenous lands.

"The other two criteria are a bit more political and strategic. The second is that companies with a history of violation of human rights and indigenous peoples in Brazil or elsewhere in the world are chosen, that is, if they were to be authorized to do this exploration, they would already bring with them a not very positive history", explains Miranda.

The document presents five case studies of the companies, with descriptions of recurring cases...

...In September 2021, amid pressure for a position, Vale said it would withdraw its requests for mining applications on indigenous lands. However, according to the report, they were still active on November 5.

In response to g1, the company reaffirmed that "it does not have any request in indigenous lands in Brazil" and also said that it "announced the withdrawal of all its mining processes in Indigenous Lands in the country". Vale said it has filed all requests with the ANM.

...On indigenous lands, the area occupied by mining increased 495% between 2010 and 2020.

What does Vale say

As already widely reported, Vale has no applications on indigenous land in Brazil. Last year, the company announced the withdrawal of all its mining processes in Indigenous Lands in the country (which includes requests for research and mining). The desistence requests were filed with the National Mining Agency (ANM) throughout 2021. This decision is based on the understanding that mining on Indigenous Lands can only be carried out with the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) of the indigenous people themselves and a legislation that allows and adequately regulates the activity.

The allegations about the supposed contamination of the Cateté River are also unfounded. This has already been corroborated in expert reports, prepared by legal experts in various scientific areas, which prove the inexistence of causality between the mining operation of Onça Puma and the supposed contamination. See more details here: http://www.vale.com/esg/pt/Paginas/Controversias.aspx

Vale also reiterates that it is available to clarify all points with Apib and Amazon Watch.

What Anglo American says

Neither Anglo American nor its subsidiaries hold any mining rights on indigenous lands in Brazil. The company gave up all mining rights in areas where there was overlap with indigenous lands, but several of these rights still appear in the database of the National Mining Agency (ANM). Anglo American continues to work with ANM to have its database updated to reflect these relinquishments.

Learn more: https://brasil.angloamerican.com/pt-pt/imprensa/noticias/2021/24-03-21

What Potássio do Brasil says

The Potássio do Brasil Project in Autazes, a municipality 111 km from Manaus, comprises an area which is totally outside Indigenous Lands. The project which should generate hundreds of jobs in Amazonas, has no overlapping with the homologated Indigenous Land.

Resulting from an Agreement with the Mura People, the Federal Public Ministry, the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI), the National Mining Agency (ANM), and the other parties involved in the process which is underway in the 1st Federal Civil Court of the Judiciary Section of Amazonas (SJAM), Potash Brazil has dismembered 4 Mining Rights to leave the Autazes Project totally outside the Jauary Indigenous Land, still in the delimitation phase.

Since the commencement of the Agreement, entered into on 17 March 2017, Brazil Potash has been fulfilling its duty with the Mura People, who inhabit the territory near the Autazes Project. Potássio do Brasil maintains its humane attitude of listening and dealing transparently with the indigenous people of the region surrounding the Autazes Project. The consultation process with the Mura people about the Autazes Project has already been initiated by the indigenous leaders themselves and has a very well elaborated Consultation Protocol by the indigenous people. COVID 19 suspended the meetings that the Mura people started before the pandemic, but they have already requested their return. And Brazil Potash has been since the beginning of the Agreement offering all the support for the consultation process to continue to be carried out within the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) with the Mura People, regarding the Autazes Project.

Potássio do Brasil reiterates its commitment to the development of the Autazes Project, respecting the environmental norms, the respect for the traditional peoples living in the vicinity of the Project and willing to contribute to the economic, social and environmental growth of Amazonas State. And reinforces that it is available to inform and clarify the information regarding Potássio do Brasil.

What Mineração Taboca says

Mineração Taboca does not operate nor does it have plans to operate in indigenous or biological reserves. The company reiterates that it has not submitted any application for mining rights in the Amazon region since 2008, when it was acquired by Minsur. On the contrary, in 2019, Taboca renounced all concessions in protected areas that were inherited from the previous owner and were never used (most dating back to the 1980s). To make the waiver of such requests even clearer, the company filed with the National Mining Agency (ANM) and the Federal Public Ministry a letter ratifying the withdrawal of overlapping rights relating to Indigenous Territories. It also requested that the agency issue an official statement that Mineração Taboca does not operate nor has requests to operate in Indigenous Territories.

What AngloGold Ashanti says

AngloGold Ashanti informs that it does not operate and has no interest in operating in Indigenous Lands (TIs). In the 1990s, the gold producer requested mineral research requests in several regions in the country. Three of these areas were later demarcated as Indigenous Lands (TIs), which led the company to give up on them.

The decision was filed with the National Mining Agency (ANM) at the end of the 1990s. However, since the process was not updated in the ANM system, AngloGold Ashanti ratified the withdrawal of the request for exploration on June 21, 2021.

Currently, the company's investments in Brazil are basically concentrated on the expansion of its mines located in Minas Gerais and Goiás...

(Source in Portuguese translated by the BHRRC)