Home›Commodities›Mining›Brazil’s Supreme Court unlocks legal mining for Cinta…

Brazil’s Supreme Court unlocks legal mining for Cinta Larga territories

The interim framework requires environmental approvals, community consultation, and limits on mining activity while Congress drafts national rules.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Mining

Brazil’s Supreme Court has upheld a decision that allows Cinta Larga Indigenous communities to pursue mineral exploration and mining in four territories under a temporary safeguard, while Congress works on long-delayed national legislation to regulate mining on Indigenous lands.

The ruling maintains a March 2025 framework set by Justice Flávio Dino that gave lawmakers 24 months to create rules, and it keeps the interim path open as long as projects meet requirements including environmental approvals, community consultation, and limits on mining activity.

In court, Dino highlighted the long-running conflict around Indigenous land mining, noting that disputes have contributed to deaths over decades, and he framed the issue as determining the role and use of Indigenous territory rather than whether mining exists there.

The case was brought by an organization representing the Cinta Larga people in Rondônia and Mato Grosso, seeking authorization to extract minerals in an area where illegal mining has fueled conflict and left the community more vulnerable, according to coverage by g1 and Valor International. The court’s move also points to a contradiction in Brazil, where mining has occurred illegally in some Indigenous areas even though Congress has not yet established a constitutional framework for legal extraction and benefit sharing.

More like this

Sources