Resources are stretched so thin at Brazil’s mining regulator that officials have walked off the job, saying budget and staffing shortfalls are hindering oversight including safety and leave the agency at risk of collapse.
(Bloomberg) — Resources are stretched so thin at Brazil’s mining regulator that officials have walked off the job, saying budget and staffing shortfalls are hindering oversight including safety and leave the agency at risk of collapse.
Since 2010, headcount at the agency known as ANM has fallen by almost half to 664 people, or a third of levels required by law, with officials paid 46% less on average than staff at other regulatory agencies, according to a presentation delivered to Brazil’s Lower House this week.
Illegal gold mining has already surpassed the area occupied by the formal industry in Brazil, yet ANM has only two people managing precious metal operations, said Ricardo Pecanha, an ANM geologist who heads the labor group behind the strike. The agency “is heading toward a collapse,” ANM ombudsman Andre Marques told lawmakers.
The public servants association has been on a monthlong strike in response, and has halted services such as granting mining titles and permits. The remaining staff is focused on tailings inspections in a nation hit by two dam disasters at Vale SA mines in recent years.
“The question is not if we’ll have another tragedy involving dam breaks, but when,” Pecanha said.
Brazil’s mining sector generated 250 billion reais ($52 billion) last year, paying 7 billion reais in royalties, but just one in a thousand companies were inspected, according to the presentation this week.
The Brazilian mining institute representative also warned the budget squeeze has serious impacts on the agency and consequently on the entire sector.
The Mines and Energy Ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Adds Brazilian mining institute comments in seventh paragraph)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.