Prosecutors probe illegal licensing for Chinese iron ore project in Brazil

Tuesday, 03 December 2019 00:26:34 (GMT+3)   |   Sao Paulo
       

Prosecutors at the federal and state level have filed a public lawsuit in Minas Gerais demanding environmental watchdog, Ibama, to properly review the licensing process of an iron ore project developed by two Chinese companies.

Prosecutors claim the project, which should produce 30 million mt/year of low Fe content iron ore, has “split” its licensing process into separate parts, under different names.

The project is being developed by Sul Americana de Metais, a subsidiary of Honbridge Holdings, and Lotus Brasil Comércio e Logística, the latter set up in partnership with Lotus Fortune Holding Limited.

Prosecutors said the project should have three dams, out of which one should be able to store about 1.3 billion cubic meters of iron ore waste. A 480-km-long (298-mile-long) iron ore slurry pipe is also expected to be built.

Prosecutors requested that Ibama force the companies to gather documents under just one licensing request. They also requested the companies to adequate their licensing processes at a federal level. Otherwise, they should be prevented from filing new “split” licensing requests.


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