Brazil’s Supreme Court suspends permit for major Amazon gold mine

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🗞️ Driving the news: Brazil’s Supreme Court has suspended an environmental installation permit for Canadian company Belo Sun Mining’s proposed Volta Grande open-pit gold mine in Pará state, in the Amazon rainforest
• Chief Justice Edson Fachin found that the company had not demonstrated full compliance with environmental requirements and protections for Indigenous communities, including adequate impact assessments and consultation rights.

🔭 The context: The proposed mine would operate near the Xingu River, an area already affected by the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, which has altered river flows and contributed to concerns over fish populations and local livelihoods
• Indigenous communities and environmental groups warn that the mine and its proposed tailings dam could compound existing pressures
• The suspension is provisional, and further legal proceedings remain possible

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: The ruling highlights the risks that large-scale mining can pose to Amazonian ecosystems and communities dependent on healthy rivers
• Researchers have warned that a failure of the proposed mining-waste dam, designed to hold around 35 million cubic metres of waste and water, could release toxic substances, including arsenic and mercury, into the surrounding environment

⏭️ What’s next: The project’s future will depend on further legal proceedings and whether outstanding environmental and Indigenous-protection requirements are met
• Brazil’s Indigenous affairs agency, FUNAI, has raised concerns about gaps in impact assessments, including the cumulative effects of the mine and the Belo Monte dam

💬 One quote: Sol Juruna, a member of the Middle Xingu Indigenous Women’s Movement, said: “It was happy news for us, even though we all know the fight isn’t over.”

📈 One stat: 3.52 million ounces of gold — the amount Belo Sun planned to extract over 17 years, according to its 2015 feasibility study

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