Brazilian government is "freezing" new mining grants, says Ibram

Rinaldo Mancin, director for environmental affairs at Brazil’s Mining Institute (Ibram) accused the country’s government of freezing the granting of new mine prospecting licenses for seven months. On the sidelines of an event of sustainable development in Rio de Janeiro, Mancin said the government might be acting this way “because of the uncertainties over the new mining legislation that will be sent to Congress”.

The executive said no official document was sent to Ibram about the question, while Brazil’s National Department of Mining Production (DNPM) refused to comment on Mr. Mancin’s statement. Last week, investment bank Standard & Poor’s released a report warning about project delays in Brazil, specially new iron ore ventures.