Brazil's Supreme Court suspends permit for major Amazon gold mine

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Brazil’s Supreme Court has suspended an environmental permit for a major gold mining project in the Amazon rainforest, dealing a setback to a Canadian company’s plans to develop an open-pit mine along a river already affected by one of the country’s largest hydroelectric dams.The decision by Supreme Court Chief Justice Edson Fachin, issued Monday and made public Tuesday, suspends the installation license for Belo Sun Mining Corp.’s proposed Volta Grande project in Para state, following years of opposition from Indigenous communities concerned about its environmental impacts.Fachin found that the company had not demonstrated full compliance with environmental requirements and protections for Indigenous communities, including studies assessing the project’s impacts and their right to be consulted.The proposed mine would be developed along the Xingu River, a major tributary of the Amazon, in an area already transformed by the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam. The dam has dramatically altered the river’s natural flow, affecting fish populations and communities that depend on the waterway.Environmental groups warn that adding a large-scale gold mine could compound those ...