Brazilian miner Vale sent a letter to a restricted number of mining investors, informing of its intention to sell the mining rights it owns in the state of Para, in the northern region of Brazil.
According to a report from the magazine “Isto É Dinheiro”, the area in question exceeds 12,000 hectares, near the city of Maraba, holding large reserves of manganese ore.
Vale has held the mining rights on that area for more than 20 years, but the area has been invaded by third parties dedicated to the illegal extraction of manganese ore since 2014.
The company reportedly warned the interested parties that the potential buyers will have to assume a large financial liability, derived from environmental damages incurred by the illegal mining over that period. The company added that, for safety reasons, it assumes no responsibility in relation to visits of investors to the area.
In a statement, Vale informed that, over the last few years, the company was informed of illegal mining activities in the area where it has mining rights. Considering that it is not the owner of the land and does not even have access to the site or legitimacy to evict invaders, it has informed authorities about the problem to help them with investigations and with the stoppage of illegal activities.