Sul Americana de Metais (SAM), a company owned by Chinese holding Honbridge Holdings, should sign on Monday a commitment term with Brazilian state prosecutors as a way to advance its $2.1 billion iron ore project.
According to a media report by Estado de Minas, state prosecutors will now follow-up on SAM’s environmental licensing process. The company plans to build a 30 million mt/year of low Fe content iron ore project near Grao Mogol in Minas Gerais state. The project also includes an iron ore open pit, and a slurry pipeline.
The project’s environmental licensing was suspended in 2020 by a court decision, following a request by these same state prosecutors. Under the terms of the document to be signed on Monday, SAM will pay up to BRL 600,000 ($112,701) for technical inspections, which would be defined by state prosecutors.
The agreement is expected to help SAM advance the project. The company had originally expected to commence iron ore production by 2024, but it has delayed the project’s startup to 2025.