"Brazilian court revokes suspension of Belo Sun’s gold project", 21 July 2022

...The Supreme Court of Pará State in Brazil has reversed a preliminary suspension order pertaining to the environmental and construction licences of Belo Sun Mining’s Volta Grande gold project. 

Earlier this year, the Agrarian Court of Altamira issued an order to suspend the Canadian company’s licences for the Volta Grande project until the completion of a socio-environmental study.

Belo Sun was ordered to complete a socio-environmental study for the local riverside peoples, at least 10km from the project, on both banks of the Xingu River...

The court also ordered the company to carry out prior, free and informed consultations, as well as secure riverside communities’ consent. 

However, the suspension has now been overturned by the supreme court due to a lack of evidence of damage to the riverside people.

The court also noted that the riverside people were properly consulted as part of the company’s environmental studies.

Belo Sun said in a statement: “The State Supreme Court also ruled that the decision of the Agrarian Court causes damage to the company and stated that there should be no obstacles for Belo Sun to continue with the environmental licensing process while complying with the legal requirements determined by the applicable environmental and judicial authorities”...