BRASILIA, (Reuters) – Brazil Potash Corp, the Canadian firm planning to build Latin America’s largest fertilizer mine in the Amazon rainforest, says a local Indigenous people, the Mura, have agreed to the project, but federal prosecutors insist the community is still divided.
Brazil Potash touted the support on Tuesday, a day after a meeting between company executives, Mura leaders, local politicians and Governor Wilson Lima, who has backed the mine to bring investment and jobs to Amazonas state.
“This is a major milestone achievement in the project’s development as it clearly demonstrates respect for the Mura’s wishes,” the company said in a statement, adding that it had completed consultations with the Indigenous community.
Federal prosecutors in Manaus, however, said support for the mine was not unanimous and provided a letter from a Mura village saying community leaders had been misled into signing meeting minutes that the company construed as approval for the mine.
“There is no unanimity among the Mura regarding the mining project,” the prosecutors office said in a statement. It added that a court order suspending the mine’s license was in effect.
Brazil Potash, which is owned by Stan Bharti’s Forbes & Manhattan Group, a Toronto-based merchant bank focused on natural resources, said the Mura decided to hold a vote and more than 60% of those attending from 36 communities voted in favor.
“You have a few people who decided not to support the project, but they are by far the minority,” Brazil Potash Chief Executive Matt Simpson said in an interview.
“The people who disagreed with the outcome of the vote are now complaining to a prosecutor, who frankly is abusing his power,” he added.
