Brazil prosecutors seek annulment of contract for Belo Sun gold mine

Belo Sun Mining

06/02/2024 23:02

By Ricardo Brito
       BRASILIA, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Brazilian federal
prosecutors asked a judge to annul a contract between Canadian
miner Belo Sun and Brazil's land rights agency to build a gold
mine valued at 1.2 billion reais ($242 million), according to a
legal document seen by Reuters.
        The controversial mining project is located in Brazil's
Amazon rainforest, near the Xingu river in northern Para state.
    The request of prosecutors to end the project is part of a
lawsuit over land rights originally filed by public defenders in
2022.
    The document, dated Jan. 30, indicated that prosecutors back
the right of families living in settlements near where the mine
would be built to be consulted on the project before any
decision allowing it to proceed.
    Belo Sun  BSX.TO  did not immediately respond to a request
for comment.
    The company has previously valued the project at 1.2 billion
reais, but its future has been clouded due to controversy over
potentially harmful environmental impact.
    The prosecutors request is the latest obstacle faced by Belo
Sun's would-be mining project. 
    A separate judge previously ruled that in order for the
project to advance, its environmental licenses must first be
approved by federal environmental protection agency Ibama, not
state officials.
    Ibama has yet to issue a decision on the licenses.
    ($1 = 4.9590 reais)

 (Reporting by Ricardo Brito in Brasilia; Writing by Andre
Romani; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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