Mining in Jacobina and refining in the Recôncavo Baiano become engines of transformation and place the interior of Bahia at the center of a new wave of jobs and qualification.

Written by Caio Aviz

Published on 28/05/2026 at 10:01

Be the first to react!

Projects by Jacobina Mineração and Acelen expand jobs, strengthen professional qualification, boost productive inclusion, stimulate local suppliers, and help transform towns in the interior of Bahia with social investments and regional economic development

The presence of the industry in the interior of Bahia has brought about significant changes in towns outside the major urban centers.

Companies related to mining and refining are expanding jobs, professional training, productive inclusion, and social investments in different regions of the state.

This movement is evident in the career path of Ediherle Cruz, who began her relationship with mining as an intern.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

Mining drives development in Jacobina

In Jacobina, a municipality located about 345 kilometers from Salvador, Jacobina Mineração operates five underground gold mines.

Currently, the company employs more than 3,000 employees, with over 96% from the local region and 98% from Bahia.

In the last six years, the company has invested more than R$ 40 million in social projects.

These actions have focused on education, health, culture, productive inclusion, and community development.

The reach of the projects has directly benefited more than 90,000 people through initiatives linked to industrial operations.

According to Edvaldo Amaral, Country Manager of Jacobina Mineração Pan American Silver in Brazil, the company seeks to generate real opportunities for the population.

The executive highlights that the company invests in employment, professional qualification, social inclusion, and regional economic development.

Training opens space for new talents

Among the mining company’s programs are Qualify to Achieve, the School of Mining, and the Dissemina project.

The Dissemina was created to increase female presence in industrial areas.

Initially, the project started with 160 women being trained for heavy equipment operation and maintenance.

The Live Well Project also brought free health services and educational actions to nearby communities.

The Integrate Day, held in 18 editions, brings together free education, culture, and social assistance services.

Thus, mining acts not only as an economic activity but also as a community transformation agent.

Mining professionals using protective equipment during a conversation in an industrial mining area in the interior of Bahia. — **Jacobina Mineração Pan American Silver employs over 3,000 employees, with more than 96% coming from the region itself Credit: Image: Jacobina Mineração Archive**

Acelen expands investments in Recôncavo Baiano

In Recôncavo Baiano, Acelen’s operations reinforce the industry’s impact on territorial development.

The company expanded investments in professional qualification, local suppliers, and community actions in Madre de Deus, São Francisco do Conde, and Candeias.

One of the company’s main focuses is the training of specialized labor for the refining sector.

About 1,000 employees have already gone through the Acelen Acender Center of Excellence in Education.

A partnership with Senai Cimatec helped train 350 technicians in refining and maintenance.

According to João Raful, vice president of Human Resources at Acelen, industrial growth needs to go hand in hand with social inclusion.

Since taking over the management of the Mataripe Refinery, the company has expanded job opportunities and strengthened local suppliers.

Youth, diversity, and small businesses gain strength

A Acelen also bets on productive inclusion and strengthening small businesses.

The Value Network program supported 34 micro and small supplier companies in the region.

The Young Journey Acelen trained 321 participants.

According to the company, about one-third of these young people entered the job market within the first two years after training.

Diversity appears as a priority in the company’s actions.

In partnership with Senai-BA, Acelen developed a free training program for petrochemical techniques.

The initiative increased female presence in a historically male sector.

At the Mataripe Refinery alone, the company has already invested more than R$ 4 billion since the start of operations.

The combination of industry, professional qualification, local suppliers, and social investments helps to redesign the economic future of Bahia.

After all, how many inland cities can still gain new opportunities when employment, training, and industrial investment go hand in hand?

Mining in Jacobina and refining in the Recôncavo Baiano become engines of transformation and place the interior of Bahia at the center of a new wave of jobs and qualification.

Projects by Jacobina Mineração and Acelen expand jobs, strengthen professional qualification, boost productive inclusion, stimulate local suppliers, and help transform towns in the interior of Bahia with social investments and regional economic development

Mining drives development in Jacobina

A rare earths mine in Goiás, sold to the US for US$ 2.8 billion, never belonged to Brazil, but has now become a central piece in the global dispute between mineral sovereignty, geopolitical influence, strategic industry, and the global race for critical minerals dominated by China.

Training opens space for new talents

Acelen expands investments in Recôncavo Baiano

Youth, diversity, and small businesses gain strength

With billions in loans, China is rebuilding Nigeria’s railway network from scratch, abandoning the British colonial tracks that have turned to scrap and creating a corridor of over 1,300 km to take the load off the roads of Africa’s largest economy.

A British company has installed in the middle of the ocean the world’s first floating platform that generates electricity 24 hours a day from the temperature difference between the surface and the depths of the Atlantic, without relying on wind or sun.

China is building an artificial island in the middle of the sea, covering 20 km², to construct the largest offshore airport in the world, the Dalian Jinzhouwan. This $4.3 billion project is anchored on more than 3,000 pillars embedded in the rock beneath the ocean and is scheduled to open in 2035.

Forget petroleum-based asphalt: a Scottish company transforms 684,000 plastic bottles into one kilometer of road that is 60% more resistant and up to 10 times more durable, and the technology has already started replacing traditional asphalt in more than 30 countries.

A robot named Walter does the work of five bricklayers per hour and can save the construction industry, where the average age of professionals is 46 years and almost no one wants to learn the trade anymore, in the United Kingdom.

Austrian engineers have developed an inflatable concrete technology that transforms flat slabs into domes using only air pressure, eliminating scaffolding and temporary forms, and potentially changing the way bridges, tunnels, and curved roofs are constructed worldwide.

The James Webb telescope spotted a planet 700 light-years from Earth with mornings full of sand clouds and nights with clear skies, the temperature difference between the two hemispheres reaches an impressive 170 degrees.

More than 1,100 km off the coast of Espírito Santo, there is a Brazilian volcanic island with no civilian residents, inhabited only by around 32 rotating Navy personnel, who ensure the country’s sovereignty and host the largest green turtle nursery in Brazil.

A gasoline engine that consumes less than 3.3 liters per 100 km, about 40% below the European average, was presented by Horse Powertrain, a joint venture of Renault, Geely, and Aramco, and runs on 100% renewable gasoline at a time when Europe is discussing banning combustion engines in 2035.

Can octopuses have “brains” in their tentacles? Discovery shows intelligent arms, sensory suckers, and a nervous system so strange it seems like science fiction.

Petrobras announces an investment of R$ 2.8 billion in Amazonas to expand natural gas production in Urucu and modernize the river fleet, boosting energy, logistics, and the regional economy with new vessels adapted for operation in the Amazon.

Volkswagen launches a 7-seater “executive Kombi” cheaper than Kia Carnival, Toyota SW4, and Jeep Commander in Brazil; Viloran has a 2.0 turbo engine, DCT transmission, 220 hp, 350 Nm, the giant minivan that Brazilians don’t have, but China does.

Mining in Jacobina and refining in the Recôncavo Baiano become engines of transformation and place the interior of Bahia at the center of a new wave of jobs and qualification.

Projects by Jacobina Mineração and Acelen expand jobs, strengthen professional qualification, boost productive inclusion, stimulate local suppliers, and help transform towns in the interior of Bahia with social investments and regional economic development

Mining drives development in Jacobina

A rare earths mine in Goiás, sold to the US for US$ 2.8 billion, never belonged to Brazil, but has now become a central piece in the global dispute between mineral sovereignty, geopolitical influence, strategic industry, and the global race for critical minerals dominated by China.

Training opens space for new talents

Acelen expands investments in Recôncavo Baiano

Youth, diversity, and small businesses gain strength

With billions in loans, China is rebuilding Nigeria’s railway network from scratch, abandoning the British colonial tracks that have turned to scrap and creating a corridor of over 1,300 km to take the load off the roads of Africa’s largest economy.

A British company has installed in the middle of the ocean the world’s first floating platform that generates electricity 24 hours a day from the temperature difference between the surface and the depths of the Atlantic, without relying on wind or sun.

China is building an artificial island in the middle of the sea, covering 20 km², to construct the largest offshore airport in the world, the Dalian Jinzhouwan. This $4.3 billion project is anchored on more than 3,000 pillars embedded in the rock beneath the ocean and is scheduled to open in 2035.

Forget petroleum-based asphalt: a Scottish company transforms 684,000 plastic bottles into one kilometer of road that is 60% more resistant and up to 10 times more durable, and the technology has already started replacing traditional asphalt in more than 30 countries.

A robot named Walter does the work of five bricklayers per hour and can save the construction industry, where the average age of professionals is 46 years and almost no one wants to learn the trade anymore, in the United Kingdom.

Austrian engineers have developed an inflatable concrete technology that transforms flat slabs into domes using only air pressure, eliminating scaffolding and temporary forms, and potentially changing the way bridges, tunnels, and curved roofs are constructed worldwide.

The James Webb telescope spotted a planet 700 light-years from Earth with mornings full of sand clouds and nights with clear skies, the temperature difference between the two hemispheres reaches an impressive 170 degrees.

One of the most challenging bridges in the world is assembled in Malaysia with helicopters, prefabricated parts, and a single pillar to support the curved deck over the mountain.

China raises an alert in the military industry by producing parts for the J-20 fighter jet in a nearly human-free factory, where AI, robots, and autonomous vehicles cut more than 80% of manual labor and double efficiency.

While stadiums in Brazil need hours to cover the field, Tottenham in London transforms a 9,000-ton natural grass field into an NFL arena in just 25 minutes with unprecedented technology.

How does Brazil manage to deliver 13 gas cylinders per second?

While school construction still relies on months of traditional masonry, in Qatar two 50-meter 3D printers will build entire schools in concrete with machines the size of a construction site.

More than 1,100 km off the coast of Espírito Santo, there is a Brazilian volcanic island with no civilian residents, inhabited only by around 32 rotating Navy personnel, who ensure the country’s sovereignty and host the largest green turtle nursery in Brazil.

A gasoline engine that consumes less than 3.3 liters per 100 km, about 40% below the European average, was presented by Horse Powertrain, a joint venture of Renault, Geely, and Aramco, and runs on 100% renewable gasoline at a time when Europe is discussing banning combustion engines in 2035.

Can octopuses have “brains” in their tentacles? Discovery shows intelligent arms, sensory suckers, and a nervous system so strange it seems like science fiction.

Petrobras announces an investment of R$ 2.8 billion in Amazonas to expand natural gas production in Urucu and modernize the river fleet, boosting energy, logistics, and the regional economy with new vessels adapted for operation in the Amazon.

Volkswagen launches a 7-seater “executive Kombi” cheaper than Kia Carnival, Toyota SW4, and Jeep Commander in Brazil; Viloran has a 2.0 turbo engine, DCT transmission, 220 hp, 350 Nm, the giant minivan that Brazilians don’t have, but China does.