Mining and Development program launched that will stimulate the country's recovery

The objective is to attract new investments and promote development and sustainable growth in the country

Remarks by the Minister of State for Mines and Energy, Admiral Bento Costa Lima Leite Albuquerque Junior. - Photo: Carolina Antunes / PR

Sep 28, the Federal Government launched the Mining and Development Program (PMD). The objective is to attract new investments and promote the growth and sustainable development of mining in the country.

The initiative, which has been built since last year with representatives of the sector, contemplates more than one hundred goals in ten mining concentration areas for the period from 2020 to 2023.

The Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque, who participated in the launching ceremony of the program, accompanied by President Jair Bolsonaro, said that Brazil is a mineral power and that mining can be the major driver of the resumption of the country's economy. "Mining is one of the great strengths of the Brazilian economy, an important vector of progress and synonymous with its development to promote the well-being of all," he said.

According to the minister, the use of mineral goods is essential for maintaining the lifestyle that modern society has adopted, with the infinity of goods, products, equipment and technological resources. “Mining is, therefore, more than essential. It is essential for the country and for the world ”.

Program

The Mining and Development Program addresses, for example, issues related to the mineral economy; sustainability; mineral exploitation in new areas; and new investments, technologies and financing for the sector. It also prioritizes sector governance, management and efficiency; and proposes goals for tackling the practice of illicit mining.

Among the planned goals are:

- Obtain and have official data on mining in all phases of mineral activity;

- Propose improvements to the Brazilian mineral sector based on successful international experiences;

- Promote local and regional socio-economic development, with environmental responsibility;

- Stimulate the implantation of mines with technologies with low environmental impact and high social gain;

- Stimulate the geological research of mineral goods considered a priority for the country and contribute to the increase of water supply in the semi-arid region of the Northeast;

- Regulate the possibility of mining on indigenous land and border strips and streamline the granting of mining titles;

- Adopt measures to attract public and private, national and international investments;

- Encourage technological insertion in small and medium-sized mining companies;

- Minimize dependence on imported minerals and seek solutions to obstacles in the activities of the mining sector;

- Restructure and modernize the National Mining Agency (ANM);

- Reduce the number of mining processes pending administrative decision;

- Improve inspection and control mechanisms;

- Promote mining as an essential activity for society and its importance for the country; and

- Deepen society's interaction with the mineral sector.

Brazilian mining industry

The Minister of Mines and Energy recalled that, in July, Brazil extracted 88 types of ores from the Brazilian subsoil, which, according to Bento Albuquerque, demonstrates the wide and diversified mineral wealth that the country has.

“Minerals that in Brazil contribute about 2.5% of GDP, generate more than R $ 50 billion in taxes and royalties per year, about three million direct and indirect jobs and those who have an extremely important weight in our export basket. And, in this, it contributes significantly to the positive balance of our trade balance ”, he added.

According to the minister, only iron ore, in the last eight months, occupied the second place in the ranking of the country's total exports, with the US $ 14.2 billion. And he recalled that the Brazilian Mining Institute estimates that investments in new projects in the sector will reach the US $ 37 billion by 2024. “About US $ 9 billion to the US $ 10 billion per year. A sector, therefore, that has great growth potential ”, said the minister.

Bento Albuquerque also stated that the Mining and Development Program, in addition to reflecting better results for the country's economy, with more wealth and jobs, will put Brazil at the forefront. "Some issues addressed in the program, reflect the necessary progress to have a new scenario of mining activity and put ourselves at the forefront position, not only as producers of mineral inputs but also as holders of an innovative culture for the sector", he concluded.