Miners ask Bolsonaro to reopen Serra Pelada

President Jair Bolsonaro welcomed today (Oct 1) at the Planalto Palace, seat of the Brazilian government, a group of miners from Serra Pelada, an area rich in precious metals in the northern Pará state. The claim for the government the task of granting the right to the exploration of gold and other minerals. In the early 80s, Serra Pelada was the world’s largest open-air mining site.

The president told the prospectors that the Ministry of Mines and Energy and the National Mining Agency seek alternatives to address their problem and pledged to send the Armed Forces to the region if legal support is found. Bolsonaro also criticized mining by private companies and once again mentioned the Amazon.

Demarcated land

Jonas Andrade, spokesman for the miners, said a territory has already been demarcated for exploration by a miners’ cooperative. Nonetheless, the cooperative does not have the necessary technology for the activities.

“Our plan is to build a partnership between the government and the private enterprise with engineers from the Army to extract the gold, as a means to prevent the illicit transfer of funds overseas. Furthermore, the gold is at an extremely deep spot, and requires state-of-the-art technology. And no company did an honest work with the miners,” Andrade said.

The area granted to the miners was originally part of a Vale do Rio Doce concession during the last administration of the military regime, he argued. The company was reimbursed at the time. He added, however, that Vale explores an area nearby and it could be illegally entering the cooperative’s territory through underground tunnels.

“[Vale] left [our area] but it’s right next door, making a whole called Projeto Serra Leste. It’s sending minerals overseas saying it’s iron, except that what they’re taking is gold, and it’s not being stated. Vale puts it in the carriages, they head for the port, and then straight to China. That’s why we’re asking the Brazilian Army to demarcate our land. We want military administration in Serra Pelada,” he declared.