Brazilian mining regulator, the National Mining Agency (ANM), said it expects to save about $178.2 million (BRL 1 billion) in expenses with a faster process to grant mining search licenses.
ANM said companies interested in searching specific areas for the potential extraction of minerals, including iron ore, can get an approval to do so in up to 34 days, down from the previous 728-day timeline estimate.
Débora Puccini, director at ANM, said search requests have reached an average of 14,223 per year between 2015 and 2019.
ANM said the interested parties can now delineate the areas they want to search and, if there are no limitations, including environmental areas such as indigenous areas, the request is approved in 34 days.
ANM said that in case regulators find out irregularities, the researcher loses not only the area, but can also respond criminally, administratively or as a civilian matter.