"Copper rush pushes Vale to ramp up mining near Amazonian protected areas", 14 October 2025

The Carajás mining district in the Brazilian Amazon is home to the world’s largest known reserves of high-grade iron ore, and also holds other major deposits of commercially valuable minerals... Today, Carajás hosts large, active mining projects, supported by extensive industrial and logistical infrastructure, operated primarily by mining giant Vale (VALE3).

Yet these sites are dotted among a mosaic of conservation areas; some mines are just a few hundred meters away from Campos Ferruginosos National Park, for example. And as is the case with large forest enterprises in Brazil, mining development in Carajás has been accompanied by significant, ongoing socioenvironmental impacts. The opening of mines, construction of dams and expansion of mining infrastructure have contributed to deforestation, ecosystem fragmentation, biodiversity loss, water stress, land conflicts, territorial pressure and disorderly urban growth...

Vale has redefined Carajás’s strategic role for the coming years. In February, in the presence of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the company announced a 70 billion reais ($13.1 billion) investment in the Novo Carajás program, with a particular focus on copper production. While the initiative has been praised for its economic benefits, it has also sparked concerns about the severe impacts of new mining operations on local communities and protected areas of the Amazon...

“This is the first in a series of copper projects that Vale plans to develop in the Carajás mineral province, with the strategic goal of doubling its copper production capacity over the next decade,” Marcelo Feriozzi Bacci, Vale’s executive vice president for finance and investor relations, said in a company statement...

Experts interviewed by Mongabay say that licensing processes for new mining areas, especially in the Brazilian Amazon, are highly complex and can take up to 20 years before production begins. By pursuing a satellite mine strategy, Vale reduces regulatory requirements and accelerates new mining fronts...

“There is particular concern about worsening water shortages,” Luiz Jardim Wanderley, a geographer and professor at Fluminense Federal University (UFF), told Mongabay...

In February 2024, a judge in Pará state, where Carajás is located, suspended Vale’s activities at the Sossego copper mine. The state environmental agency, SEMAS, told Mongabay in an email that the company “was not complying with the social programs related to its operating license.” Activities at the Sossego mine resumed in June 2024 after Vale signed a deal before Brazil’s Supreme Court to comply with requirements...

Residents of rural communities in Canaã dos Carajás, near the Sossego mine, have long complained about forced evictions, frequent explosions, cracks in their homes, dust, and other impacts from mining activity...

Vale has also been linked to land fraud. An investigative report by Brazilian news outlet Sumaúma detailed how the mining company took possession of 24,000 hectares (59,300 acres) of public land belonging to the federal government and settlements under INCRA, the national land reform institute, in the Carajás region, pressuring farmers and attempting to demobilize social movements raising questions about the company’s activities...

Vale did not respond to Mongabay’s requests for comment. In response to Sumaúma’s investigation, the company declined to comment on the irregular purchase of land or on the overlap of public land with rural properties it claims to own. Vale also said the Sossego mine operation has had no significant environmental impact and that it complies with the policies outlined in its operating license.