In voting on Friday (26) members of the State Environmental (EMCO), approved by eight votes to two, the Preliminary License (LP) for the Project Extraction of Metal Ores Serra Pelada, the responsibility of Mineral Development Company (IDC), located in the municipality of Curionópolis in southeast Pará, to 536 km from the capital, Belém
It was the second meeting this month by Secretary of State for the Environment (SEMA) for the members of Coema completed voting, which began in the 37th Regular Meeting, February 9, when the public prosecutor in the state (MPE) Prosecutor Raimundo Moraes, formally requested the project aiming to understand and analyze the environmental impact assessment (EIA) and Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
In the first round, seven representatives of institutions represented in the Coema put forward a vote for the licensing of the project developer, made by the Cooperative of Prospectors in Serra Pelada (Coomigasp) and the Canadian company Colossus Mineral Inc., for the extraction of gold, platinum and palladium, through the mining and mineral processing.
At the hearing on Friday at the headquarters of the Order of Lawyers of Brazil, São Paulo (OAB-PA), the directors held in favor of granting the LP, and also were joined by another member of the Council to close the vote eight events for the license, with the votes against the issue, representatives of NGOs and the MPE.
Vote - The owner of the NGO Institute for Development of Amazonia (IDA), Armando Zurita, complained about the lack of clear information of the entrepreneur in the EIA of the percentages that make up the association between the miners and the company Colossus, with regard to corporate structure and the division of profits among the partners.
Since the alternate MPE, Milton Gurjão Attorney, presented the reasons to vote against in 28 pages, but summarized his only exposure to the main body of the disagreements about the social and environmental impacts, the "absence of government plans in the areas of influence project "," the EIA that measures the socioeconomic situation, or offer alternatives, "which summed up the" profound deficiencies in the EIA.
Among the advisers who advocated the urgency of a project to change the harsh reality of living in the area of Serra Pelada, since the deactivation of the gold in the 90's, the representative of the State Legislative Assembly (ALEP) in Coema, Mr Gabriel Warrior recalled some aspects that led him to defend the project.
"The environmental and social problems of the area are the worst, the statistics are terrible. Upon arrival, I received a document from an association of leprosy Serra Pelada. Frankly, when it comes to that point, to have an association, you must imagine the scale of the problems, "he said Warrior.
In the end, the Member who is a geologist and studied the area, made a request to the developers of the project for "the immediate closure of what remains of the mine" as a way to start the corrections environment.
Other advisers recalled that the LP was granted by the Technical Chamber of Coema with recommendations, and 24 constraints for the firm to observe the Colossus social issues and impacts on the environment, which is already critical.
From now on, the entrepreneur must submit to the Sema Environmental Control Plan (PCA) to immediately ask the Installation License (LI) and Operation (LP), when he has the right to start the production process, with the surveys of field technicians Sema throughout the process, also ensures the Brazilian environmental legislation.
Prospectors - Once again, old miners, who worked on the banks of the so-called "Grota Rica," in Serra Pelada in search of Eldorado, occupied the auditorium of the headquarters of OAB / PA, and followed the completion of the vote for the permit. The project will benefit about fifty thousand workers.
Contrary- The State Public Prosecutor, through prosecutors Nilton Gurjão the Wounds of Jesus and Raimundo Coelho de Moraes, argued against the application for environmental licensing of the Serra Pelada project developed by Serra Pelada Mineral Development Company (SPCDM) . whose objective is the extraction and processing of gold, palladium and platinum.
For the MP, the Environmental Impact Statement / Environmental Impact Report (EIA) submitted contains serious errors, such as the failure of forecasting and analysis of environmental impacts caused by mining activity. Still, the study does not quantify the demands of public policy during the installation and implementation of the project.
The profits of Serra Pelada in the Cooperative Mining of Prospectors in Serra Pelada (Coomigasp) was another point questioned by the prosecution. According to the EIA, the miners participate in society with only 25% of the shares, plus pay-per-pound of minerals sold. The MP wants a fairer share of Coomigasp in society.
According to prosecutors, there was also a "noncompliance with the procedure, the Environmental Law of the State of Para in regard to community participation in drafting the terms of reference for environmental reports."
The MP is part of the State Council of Environment (EMCO) and was the last opinion was missing.
Project Information - The Project Serra Pelada is inserted into the basin of Rio Sereno, City of Curionópolis, with total ore reserve of 4 million tons with contents of 8.20 g / t gold, 1.70 g / t platinum and 2.65 g / t palladium, and projection of operating in underground mining for a period of eight years. The estimated total production is 33 tons of gold, 6.8 tons of platinum and 10.6 tons of palladium.