“Investor Alert: Belo Sun Discloses Misleading Information to Investors Regarding Controversial Gold Mining Project in Brazilian Amazon”, 29 July 2021

In a letter of concern to the Ontario Securities Commission, an international coalition of civil society organizations calls attention to the repeated dissemination of misleading information by Belo Sun Mining Corp (TSXV:BSX)… downplaying socio-environmental, legal, and financial risks of the company’s “Volta Grande” project…misleading and incomplete information to investors about the mining project it is trying to develop on the Xingu river (Volta Grande do Xingu), Pará State, Brazil.

This is the central message of a warning letter sent to the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) on July 29th by an international coalition of civil society organizations and networks including Amazon Watch, Earthworks, Instituto Socioambiental (ISA), Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA), International Rivers, MiningWatch Canada, Movimento Xingu Vivo para Sempre, and Rede Xingu+…

Drafted by a legal team and supported by independent technical and scientific analysis, the letter of concern challenges recent statements by Belo Sun’s CEO Peter Tagliamonte. In a speech at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) event in March 2021, the largest mining convention in the world, Tagliamonte cited the Covid-19 pandemic as the justification for repeated delays in the environmental licencing of the Volta Grande mine, claiming that the mining project was “fully authorized” and that construction was expected to begin at the end of 2021…

…There are seven public civil actions active in Brazilian courts asking for the suspension of permits and of the licencing process, filed by Federal and State public prosecutors’ and defenders’ offices. These lawsuits focus specifically on irregularities in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and the lack of free, prior and informed consultation and consent with Indigenous peoples and other traditional communities.

The coalition argues that there is overwhelming evidence that Belo Sun breached the Securities Act disclosure requirements, which requires companies to disclose material changes “forthwith” (without delay). Companies must disclose factual and updated data to keep investors well informed…

Read the full letter: https://www.internationalrivers.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/86/2021/07/FINAL-Belo-sun-complaint-23072021.docx-1-1.pdf