Big mining eyeing indigenous Brazilian lands the size of England

In February of last year, when Brazil was recording its highest Covid mortality rates of the pandemic, Canadian mining firm Belo Sun gained permission to meet with indigenous representatives to discuss the Volta Grande do Xingu project — slated to be the world’s biggest open-air gold mine.

Authorization came from Brazil’s indigenous foundation Funai, which was roundly criticized for the decision. At the time, less than 30 percent of Brazil’s indigenous population had been vaccinated against Covid. Amid the wave of bad press, Funai backtracked.

This is just one example of a series of implications that mining activities can bring to indigenous communities, which are increasingly seeing their ancestral lands and surroundings exploited by private companies.

Belo Sun and other major Brazilian and foreign mining firms are listed on a survey released today by the Brazilian Indigenous Peoples Association (Apib) and NGO Amazon Watch, which exposes the companies angling to exploit indigenous lands in the Brazilian Amazon and their main investors.

The study shows that, in November 2021, there were 2,478 active requests for mining research in 261 indigenous reservations on the database of the National Mining Agency (ANM), in charge of analyzing and approving petitions.

These requests are in the name of 570 mining companies, mining associations, and domestic and international business groups. In all, they hope to exploit 10.1 million hectares of Brazil’s Amazon — an area close to the size of England.

Companies file mining research applications to verify whether there is mineral wealth to be exploited in the area in question, representing one step before mining activities themselves. While research does not involve the start of extraction in itself, approved requests already bring consequences for local communities.

“Even when it’s just...