Brazil selects 6 more priority mining projects

The Brazilian government selected six more mining projects that it will help obtain licenses. 

The projects are Santa Quitéria (phosphate and uranium) of Indústrias Nucleares do Brasil (INB) in partnership with the Galvani group; Mina Tucano (gold) of Mina Tucano; Retiro (titanium) of Rio Grande Mineração; Sereno (manganese) of the RMB Group; Volta Grande (gold) of Belosun; and Boa Esperança (copper) of Mineração Caraíba.

The projects will become part of the government’s investment partnership program (PPI) and are eligible "for government support purposes, aiming to prioritize the efforts to implement the projects," the mines and energy ministry said in a release.

The inter-ministerial committee for the analysis of strategic minerals projects, or CTAPME, will be responsible for supporting the projects. It comprises the mines and energy ministry, the science, technology and innovation ministry, the institutional security office of the presidency, the PPI and the special secretariat of strategic affairs of the presidency. 

CTAPME was created earlier this year to select projects considered highly important for the country's development and coordinate government agencies to implement and expand production of strategic minerals on an environmentally sustainable basis.

Currently, there are 12 mining projects selected as priorities in the government program, with potential investment of 40bn reais (US$7.1bn).

The government is attempting to diversify mining production, which is still heavily contracted on iron ore.