"Communities resist Chinese mining company's iron ore tailings dam", 18 December 2019

State and federal prosecutors are trying to stop construction before it starts. Residents are fighting to block it entirely. Licensing is suspended. But none of this is stopping Chinese-funded companies from negotiating with politicians to move ahead with a plan to build one of the largest iron ore tailings dams in Brazil in the city of Grão Mogol, Minas Gerais state.

The dam would hold back waste from the Bloco 8 project, to dig up 27 million tonnes of iron ore each year and pipe it nearly 500 kilometres to a port in Ilhéus, in Brazil's Bahia state. With a budget of over R$9 billion (US$2.2 billion), the project is led by the Sul Americana de Metais and Lotus Brasil Comércio e Logística companies, which are connected to the Chinese firm Honbridge Holdings.

The mine complex would occupy a large part of Fazenda São Francisco and its surroundings, a region already marked by land conflicts and drought. [...]