Toronto-based potash junior Brazil Potash Corp. is proposing to double planned output of potash from its Autazes Potash Project in Brazil’s northwestern Amazonas state. Executives from Brazil Potash last month met with Brazilian Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina Corrêa da Costa Dias, where they discussed increasing the output at the company’s Autazes project from 2.44 million mt/y to more than 5 million mt/y (GM Oct. 16, 2020).
The output would help reduce Brazil’s heavy dependence on imported potash. The company said the mine is five miles from a major river system, which would allow it to barge most of the product to the country’s agricultural heartland.
Brazil Potash, which has been trying to develop the project for more than five years, said it would take at least three years for the Autazes project to come onstream once licensing had been secured. The development has been held up by environmental concerns about river and water pollution. Brazil Potash claims the mine would have minor environmental impact given that the project’s processing waste is planned to be returned underground.