Belo Sun's gold mining project at risk of being suspended

Belo Sun's gold mining project at risk of being suspended

One of Brazil’s largest gold mining projects is at risk of being suspended by problems linked to environmental licensing. The billionaire project of Canada’s Belo Sun intends to extract gold on the banks of Xingu River, right next to where hydroelectric plant Belo Monte, in Pará, is being built. But members of the Environmental State Council of Pará (Coema) have issued negative assessments on the project. Coema’s approval is decisive for the venture receiving the initial environmental permit. Valor had access to a report sent to the Secretariat of Environment of Pará State (Sema), which says there are a number of serious irregularities in the licensing process, such as the lack of studies on the impact for indigenous communities. Belo Sun, controlled by bank Forbes&Manhattan, wants to invest $ 1.1 billion in the extraction and processing of gold in the region.