Brazil's MRN launches BRL 5 billion bauxite expansion project

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 15, Brazil's Mineração Rio do Norte (MRN) launched the implementation phase of the Novas Minas project in Pará state. The project plans to invest approximately BRL 5 billion over the next five years to develop five new bauxite plateau mining areas—Rebolado, Escalante, Jamari, Barone, and Cruz Alta Leste—in the municipalities of Oriximiná, Terra Santa, and Faro, along with supporting access roads, production infrastructure, and related auxiliary facilities.

MRN obtained the installation license issued by Brazil's Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) in July 2026, which allows the company to formally begin construction of the Novas Minas project. The project's environmental licensing process began in 2018, during which an environmental impact assessment, public hearings in Oriximiná, Terra Santa, and Faro, and related environmental and social assessments involving the Boa Vista and Alto Trombetas II communities were completed.

Novas Minas is planned to maintain MRN's bauxite production at approximately 12.5 million tonnes per year and extend the company's mining operations in western Pará, Brazil, until around 2041. MRN's latest disclosed long-term investment plan shows that cumulative investment in the project and subsequent operations from 2027 to 2041 is expected to reach BRL 9 billion, with approximately 2,300 new jobs expected to be created during the project implementation phase.

The project will adopt in-pit dry tailings disposal. Tailings from bauxite washing will be dewatered and backfilled into the pits created by mining, replacing the traditional large-scale wet tailings storage method. MRN's official project materials show that the five new mining areas will utilize existing production facilities as much as possible to minimize the scope of new infrastructure construction.

Advancing in parallel with Novas Minas is MRN's 230kV transmission project. The project will build approximately 98 kilometers of transmission lines, connecting the Oriximiná substation to the future Saracá substation at Porto Trombetas and linking to Brazil's National Interconnected System (SIN). The transmission project includes the construction of lines, tower foundations, and substations, and has now entered the substantive construction phase.

Among these, the Trombetas River crossing section is approximately 5.2 kilometers long and will involve the construction of 5 large transmission towers. The first 150-meter-tall tower has been installed, and another tower under construction is designed to reach a height of 178 meters. MRN expects that once the transmission system is operational, it can reduce the company's carbon emission footprint by approximately 25% starting from 2027.