Mining rush for critical minerals threatens Amazon land reform settlements
Why it matters: Critical‑mineral rush threatens Amazon communities and ecosystems amid the green‑energy boom.
- Vale is spearheading the hunt for critical minerals in the Carajás region, filing numerous new licences for copper, manganese and nickel (Repórter Brasil/Mongabay).
- National Mining Agency (ANM) data reveals 676 mining processes since 1969, 43 % of which now sit on 82 agrarian‑reform settlements (Repórter Brasil/INM).
- INCRA reports 14,852 small‑scale farming families living on the public lands now under mining pressure, highlighting a clash between land reform and extractive expansion.
- Energy Transition Observatory notes a sharp uptick—166 applications in the last five years—driven by global demand for clean‑energy metals, raising concerns over Amazon deforestation and social conflict.
A surge in mining licences for copper, manganese and nickel—key to the energy transition—is targeting Brazil’s Amazon agrarian‑reform settlements, putting 14,800 families at risk. The Energy Transition Observatory’s data shows 292 applications on 82 settlements, with 166 filed in the past five years, and mining giant Vale leading the push.
