Toronto-based potash junior Brazil Potash Corp., which is proposing to mine potash in Brazil’s northwestern Amazonas state, has finally begun a consultation process with Indigenous inhabitants, more than a decade after the company first started prospecting, according to a report by Mongabay.com, a California-based environmental science, energy, and green design website. However, this could not be confirmed with Brazil Potash by Green Markets by press time.
While the Canadian junior has promised jobs and prosperity for the municipality of Autazes, Indigenous Mura communities are worried that the development could pollute their rivers, which could kill the fish they depend upon. Their resistance is undermined by the Brazilian government’s long-standing refusal to acknowledge their land claims.
Brazil Potash claims the mine would have minor environmental impact given that the project plans to return processing waste underground.
The proposed mine has gained fresh momentum in recent weeks, fueled by global potash supply shortages as a result of Western sanctions on Belarus – and more recently, on Russia following the latter country’s invasion of Ukraine. The company recently revealed it is proposing to double planned output of potash from its Autazes Potash Project from 2.44 million mt/y to more than 5 million mt/y (GM April 8, p. 29).
New domestic production would be a welcome development to Brazil, which is heavily dependent on imports to meet its potash requirements, importing some 12.8 million mt of potash in 2021.