An agreement reached in federal court sealed the end of activities at the Granja Corumi Mine, located in the Serra do Curral, one of Belo Horizonte’s main landmarks. The Pau Branco Mining Company (Empabra), responsible for the project, agreed to end operations. The donation of the land to the city of Belo Horizonte was also agreed, so that it could be annexed to the Mangabeiras Park, after the area has been restored.
Negotiations were concluded at a conciliation hearing held last Thursday (12) at the 11th Federal Civil Court of Belo Horizonte. The proposal by the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) was also accepted, to hire an independent auditor to oversee the closure of the mine. It will be responsible for verifying compliance with environmental requirements and producing reports to be made available to the inspection bodies.
The negotiations involved, in addition to Empabra, the city of Belo Horizonte and the MPF, the Public Ministry of Minas Gerais (MPMG), the National Mining Agency (ANM) and the Guaycui Institute, a civil society entity engaged in defending the preservation of the Rio das Velhas basin and the rights of communities affected by dams.
History
The Granja Corumi mine has been in operation since the 1950s. With Serra do Curral declared a heritage site in Belo Horizonte in 1990, activities at the site were reduced. In 2007, Empabra signed an agreement with the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Minas Gerais to develop a plan to restore the degraded area. At the time, reports indicated risks to the integrity of the Baleia State Park. Given the partial breach of the agreement, the mining company’s activities were temporarily suspended by the State Secretariat for the Environment and Sustainable Development (Semad) in 2018.
The following year, the final report The Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) set up by the Belo Horizonte City Council went so far as to request the definitive suspension of mineral extraction at the Granja Corumi Mine. The 324-page document suggested to the MPMG that a judicial freeze be requested on Empabra’s assets until the labor issues are resolved and the degraded area is restored.
In October of last year, the National Mining Agency (ANM) authorized the removal of 800,000 tons of ore that had already been processed and was in storage. With the large movement of trucks, residents of neighboring communities and activists from the São Francisco Permanent Forum and the Manuelzão Project began to question whether government agencies were monitoring the work and whether there were guarantees that Empabra would not resume extracting ore.
The authorization was granted after Empabra claimed that maintaining the ore already extracted could cause new damage. At the same time as granting the permission, ANM demanded a plan for emergency works, with the aim of avoiding landslides, leaks and other problems during the rainy season.
Inspections
In May of this year, suspicions of illegal activity prompted an inspection by the Belo Horizonte city government, which led to the complete closure of the mine and all company activities. An environmental crime was reported and a fine of R$64,900 was applied. The situation also mobilized deputies from the Minas Gerais State Legislative Assembly (ALMG), who also carried out a survey. Last month, a decision by the Court of Justice of Minas Gerais (TJMG) once again determined the suspension immediate termination of all Empabra activities at the Granja Corumi Mine, including the removal of stored ore.
According to Empabra, a Mine Closure Plan had already been presented by the mining company in April of this year with the aim of transforming the area into a public space integrated with the Mangabeiras Park and the Baleia State Park. “The main objectives include the creation of an ecological corridor, the expansion of the buffer zone, ecological reintegration and the preservation of biodiversity,” states a note released by the mining company at the time.
Empabra has been claiming that control of the mining company was taken over in 2013 by Green Metals with the aim of restoring the Granja Corumi Mine area. However, it claims that the suspension of activities, ordered by the courts and the government, have made it difficult to advance restoration efforts.
