the mining company Vale (VALE3) restarted the environmental licensing process for its former Apolo project, between the cities of Caeté and Santa Bárbara, in Minas Gerais, after an in-depth review of the original plan, which allowed for a reduction in environmental impacts, according to the company’s presentation seen by Reuters.
With the capacity to produce 14 million tons per year and a useful life of 29 years, the Apolo Novo Conceito Project’s schedule foresees to win the license to start operations in 2028, according to a document from company presented to the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais this Tuesday.
In the newest plan, the company will do away with the use of dams and will have a power plant and a new 8 km-long railway branch, which will be connected to the Vitória-Minas Railroad (EFVM).
In September, the company filed a new Environmental Impact Study and Report (EIA/Rima) with the State of Minas Gerais to resume licensing.
The company’s expectation is to obtain the preliminary license in 2023, followed by the installation license in 2024.
The project is expected to generate around 2,600 temporary jobs at the peak of construction.
In the operational phase, there will be around 2,800 job openings, of which 740 are direct jobs (between own and third parties) and 2,100 are indirect and induced.
Also during the operation, it is estimated the movement of about 138 million reais in wages annually, in addition to an addition of 151 million reais in taxes (CFEM and TRFM) per year.
New concept
The project, which had its original licensing started in 2009, went through several revisions to meet changes in legislation and requests from civil society, as highlighted by Vale in an email to Reuters.
In addition to eliminating the use of dams, the remodeled version also brings significant reductions in the project area, in water consumption and in carbon emissions, the company pointed out.
“The new Apolo Project occupies an area 32% smaller than the initial proposal of 2009, going from 2,000 hectares to 1,368 hectares”, said the company, by email.
“The project area also does not interfere with the limits of the Serra do Gandarela National Park, created in 2014 with an area of 31,270 hectares, of which about 15,000 hectares are in the process of possible donation by Vale to the ICMBio.”
Water consumption reduced by around 95% due to dry processing of iron ore. Currently, the need for the input for the project is estimated at approximately 100 m³/h, against 1,900 m³/h estimated in 2009.
To increase safety conditions and reduce the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, autonomous trucks will be used in the mining area to transport the ore.
Presentations of the new concept to neighboring communities began in July, according to the company, stressing that it will maintain its relationship with these groups, in addition to other sectors of civil society, to clarify doubts and discuss solutions related to the project.
Source From: Moneytimes
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