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Brazil district attorneys once again look for to suspend Canadian potash mine in the Amazon

Brazilian federal district attorneys have submitted a suit to suspend a license provided to a. Canadian firm to install what would be Latin America's largest. fertilizer mine in the Amazon rainforest, their workplace said.

The planned mine by Brazil Potash Corp overlaps with. ancestral lands of the Mura Indigenous individuals whose area is. in the process of demarcation, the district attorneys stated in a. statement issued on Tuesday. They included the licensing must be a. federal concern to be chosen by Brazil's environmental protection. company Ibama and not the state environmental body Ipaam.

Federal company Ibama stated in response to a inquiry. that it was its responsibility to issue ecological licenses. for any business on Indigenous lands, but a technical research study. would need to recognize whether the Autazes my own was on. Native land in order to determine federal skills over. licensing.

Brazil Potash Corp. Chief Executive Matt Simpson stated the. Mura land has not been officially acknowledged as a safeguarded. booking by the Brazilian federal government and for that reason the mine. can be licensed by the state of Amazonas whose governor fully. backs the $2.6 billion job.

The prosecutors' office has contested the mine given that 2016 and. the project was stopped by a federal judge in 2023, a choice. that was consequently reversed by a higher appeals court.

Simpson said the company has requested 10 days to use a. statement showing the legal unfeasibility of the. district attorneys' request.

The appeals court in Brasilia that overruled the Manaus. judge's decision had established the state's competence to. conduct ecological licensing and authorized the continuation. of the licensing procedure, Simpson said in writing to .

The prosecutors' workplace in Manaus said Mura leaders had been. based on incorrect guarantees and threats. It included that the mine. presented a severe environmental threat that would impact the. entire area's population which impact studies had not been. performed properly.

The mine might be fundamental for Brazilian farming as. it will reduce Brazil's 90% dependence on imported potash, however. it has actually been held up by opposition from the Mura individuals who state. they have actually not been consulted about use of their ancestral lands.

Guv Wilson Lima, who says the mine will bring his state. financial investment and advancement, revealed last month that the. installation license had actually been granted for the mine to be developed. in Autazes, 75 miles (120 km) southeast of state capital Manaus.

Brazil Potash said it will start this year on the shafts. that will extract the potash and return salt to the bottom of. the mine. The task will take 3 years to construct.

The mine will provide potash to Brazilian farm states by. river barges at less than even the transport costs of. manufacturers in Russia, Belarus and Canada, who have to deliver across. the world, according to Simpson.

Brazil Potash is owned by CD Capital with a 34% stake,. Sentient with 23% of shares, and Stan Bharti's Forbes &&. Manhattan Group, a Toronto-based merchant bank that began the. job and now holds 14%, in addition to other shareholders.

(source: Reuters)