The holding company Dord Investimentos is now turning its eyes to the state of Sergipe and could threaten the livelihood of families in rural settlements with a potassium mining project that could be implemented in the Sergipe region by the company

In a scenario of expansion of mining in all areas of agrarian reform following a new norm from the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra), the holding company Dord Investimentos continues to seek, this Thursday (09/06) a mining project of potassium in the state of Sergipe. However, all planned areas for mineral exploration are from rural settlements and the families that live in the region may be harmed by the probable undertakings.

Dord Investimentos is now looking for areas in the state of Sergipe to exploit potassium in its new mining expansion project throughout the national territory 

The holding company Dord Investimentos opened a protocol at the National Mining Agency (ANM) for a request for potassium mining in the Sergipe municipality of Santo Amaro das Brotas. All of them are part of rural settlements, more specifically the Settlement Projects (PAs) Olga Benário and Celso Furtado, in addition to a small portion of the PA Hugo Herédia, which is also located in the region of the municipality. 

The company declares itself to be a holding company, that is, a company whose main activity is to hold equity interests in other companies, and is now seeking expansion in the Brazilian mining sector. This is because Dord Investimentos had not started any mining project until 2022, when it opened three processes at ANM, all aimed at exploring potassium in areas of rural settlements.

All these areas are currently heavily weakened due to plant exploitation and, with the arrival of the holding company in the region, there may be even more environmental impacts for the settlements. Although until recently it was not possible to open mining projects in these places, the new Incra norm opened space for these ventures.

Released on January 3, 2022, the agency's new rule allows the sale of areas originally intended for land reform for mining, power generation and infrastructure projects. And, according to a survey carried out by the InfoAmazônia website, this new norm could unlock more than 20 requirements in areas of this type for activities in the mining sector. 

Demand for potassium grows in Brazil, but mining in areas of rural settlements could jeopardize the livelihood of families in these regions

Potassium is one of the main components of several types of fertilizers and is being increasingly sought after in the national market. This happens because the international market is very unstable in relation to the export of the product due to the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, strong fertilizer traders all over the world.

Therefore, potassium mining is increasingly popular in Brazil and projects in this segment have grown strongly in recent months.

However, according to Incra itself, the arrival of the holding company Dord Investimentos and other companies in areas of rural settlements could put the lives of families residing in the region at risk. These are areas dedicated to human survival and should not be the focus of agribusiness and mining, since they are used for family production focused on food. 

Thus, Sabrina Diniz, director of the Brazilian Association of Agrarian Reform (Abra), commented on the situation in Sergipe and warned: “These settlements are large areas of environmental protection, by the very existential logic of the settled families. This is not the logic of large enterprises, mining and agribusiness. Their logic is profit. In a country that is experiencing the advance of hunger, it would be essential for these people to have their right to produce food guaranteed”