Rare Earth Mining Will Use Reservoirs of Mining City That Already Faces Water Shortages and Risks Drought by 2030

Written by Romário Pereira de Carvalho

Published on 10/09/2025 at 21:22

Imagem: Prefeitura de Poços de Caldas

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Viridis Mining Plans to Explore Rare Earths Using Reservoirs in Poços de Caldas, Generating Criticism for Drought Risk and Future Water Fragility

Viridis Mining intends to use the four water reservoirs in Poços de Caldas, Minas Gerais, to explore rare earths. The proposal worries residents and experts because the municipality is already facing water scarcity and has a high risk of drought starting in 2030.

At the information session held by the Federal Institute of Southern Minas on Wednesday (3), urban planner Maria Carolina Nassif presented details of the Environmental Impact Study (EIA) and the Environmental Impact Report (RIMA) prepared by the company.

According to the documents, if the project is installed, the risk of drought could increase even more between 2030 and 2050.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

Criticism of the Study Presented by Viridis

During the presentation, Nassif emphasized that the reports do not offer any conditions. “The document does not bring any conditions. It brings nothing. The company can proceed with just the state licensing and that’s it. What will the municipality gain in return? Nothing. The city hall will provide water, electricity, and gas,” she stated.

The urban planner further pointed out that, even with the mention of a possible partnership between the mining company and the City Hall of Poços de Caldas, there are no formal records of this negotiation.

By the time the report was finalized, neither the City Hall nor the Municipal Department of Water and Sewage (DMAE) had responded about the possibility of conducting an independent study.

Authorization for Pilot Plant in Poços de Caldas

The discussion is happening concurrently with the decision of the State Secretariat for the Environment and Sustainable Development (Semad).

On August 29, the agency authorized the installation of a pilot plant by Meteoric Mining in Poços de Caldas.

The project will allow the construction of a laboratory for processing rare earths for a period of ten years.

Additionally, another mining company that already held mining rights in the area also requested the same license.

The competition has reinforced the criticisms from the Alliance for the Protection of the Environmental Area (APA) of Pedra Branca, which took the case to the Public Ministry of Minas Gerais (MPMG).

Concern About License Fragmentation

In a civil inquiry published on August 20, the MPMG acknowledged environmental risks. The document warned that the fragmentation of extraction and processing requests into separate licenses compromises the integrated analysis of environmental impacts.

Therefore, it may result in the omission of cumulative or synergistic effects, causing future harm to the municipality.

With information from Brasil de Fato.

Rare Earth Mining Will Use Reservoirs of Mining City That Already Faces Water Shortages and Risks Drought by 2030

Viridis Mining Plans to Explore Rare Earths Using Reservoirs in Poços de Caldas, Generating Criticism for Drought Risk and Future Water Fragility

Criticism of the Study Presented by Viridis

Authorization for Pilot Plant in Poços de Caldas

Concern About License Fragmentation

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Rare Earth Mining Will Use Reservoirs of Mining City That Already Faces Water Shortages and Risks Drought by 2030

Viridis Mining Plans to Explore Rare Earths Using Reservoirs in Poços de Caldas, Generating Criticism for Drought Risk and Future Water Fragility

Criticism of the Study Presented by Viridis

Authorization for Pilot Plant in Poços de Caldas

Concern About License Fragmentation

The Soviet Union spent 22 years drilling into the Earth’s crust and reached a depth of 12,262 meters — they found water where it was thought impossible, hydrogen bubbling from the rock, granite that is 2.7 billion years old, and temperatures of 180 degrees that melted the drill bits.

Norway is drilling 27 kilometers of rock 392 meters below the bottom of a fjord to build the world’s largest and deepest underwater road tunnel — when completed, a 21-hour journey will be reduced to 10.

The island that has 35 inhabitants and celebrates Christmas on January 6: the remote island of Foula lives in isolation, without internet and following Julius Caesar’s calendar for centuries.

A German architect built a cylindrical house in 1994 that rotates to follow the sun throughout the day, generates 5 times more energy than it consumes, and was the world’s first energy-positive house.

An astronaut spent 340 days in space while his twin brother stayed on Earth, and NASA found a “rejuvenating” effect, genes, microbiome, cognition, and immune system that revealed the biological cost of living outside the planet.

China has just successfully tested the world’s first ground effect maritime vehicle, a craft that flies up to 6 meters above the water at 200 km/h, uses quantum technology and 6G communication, and can rescue patients in the middle of the ocean.

Scientists discover how the mosquito uses a natural “GPS” to find humans and reveal why the head and breath become targets in the attack.

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