Dec 2 Brazil’s attorney general has asked the supreme court to uphold the closure of Brazilian mining company Vale SA’s Onça Puma nickel mine for allegedly failing to meet the terms of its environmental license, the prosecutor said on Wednesday.
Attorney General Rodrigo Janot made the request in response to a petition by the state of Pará to reopen the mine, ordered closed in August, on the grounds that the shutdown puts 850 jobs at risk and threatens the region’s economy, according to a statement from his office.
Located in Brazil’s Amazon region, Onça Puma produced 5,900 tonnes of nickel in the third quarter, or 8.2 pct of production at Vale, the world’s largest nickel producer.
Rio de Janeiro-based Vale allegedly failed to mitigate mine impacts and compensate the Cateté and Kaiapó native groups for the intrusion on their way of life, as required under an operating license granted in 2004, the attorney general said.
“In the balance of values, life takes priority over eventual economic losses stemming from the stoppage of the project,” he said in the statement.
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