Portuguese 
Salinas faced water shortages during the 2015 drought. Eleven years later, a resident discovered through a casual conversation with a company worker that the environmental agency of Minas Gerais has authorized a lithium miner to extract water from the same reservoir that supplies the city. Nobody was notified in advance.
The authorization came from the Mineiro Institute for Water Management (Instituto Mineiro de Gestão das Águas, Igam), and the volume released corresponds to 1.43% of the total storage capacity of the reservoir.
This case was revealed on September 8, 2026, and has led residents to take to the streets with signs demanding respect for the city’s water.
The company is PLS Brasil Mineração and the focus is on lithium in northern Minas
The involved mining company is PLS Brasil Mineração, located in northern Minas Gerais, an area known for its semi-arid climate and history of water scarcity.
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Salinas is outside the so-called Lithium Valley, the Jequitinhonha corridor that concentrates most of the mineral projects in Minas. This indicates that the race for lithium has spread.
Wherever there is pegmatite with spodumene, mineral exploration emerges. And wherever mineral exploration appears, there is demand for water.
In recent years, the state has become the Brazilian center for lithium, driven by global battery demand. Consequently, this small, dry city has come onto the radar of a company that previously couldn’t even pinpoint its location.
The discovery did not come through official channels but through corridor conversation
This is the point that troubles residents the most. The population learned about the authorization informally.
According to a report, residents discovered this through a casual chat with a company worker.
I must admit, this aspect transforms a routine administrative procedure into a local crisis of trust.
1.43% may seem small until you remember where the number comes from
One point four three percent of the reservoir sounds marginal. And in a normal rainfall year, it probably is.
The issue is that northern Minas does not operate with normal rainfall years as the norm. It works in cycles.
In a dry cycle, the percentage that is currently negligible starts competing with urban supply. This is exactly the residents’ concern.
The dam was built in 1992 and is currently at 80% capacity
The structure was built in 1992 and currently operates at about 80% capacity, according to information attributed to the sanitation company.
Having 80% capacity is comfortable. However, it is just a snapshot, not a guarantee.
Those who experienced the drought in 2015 know this. That year, the taps ran dry, and the memory of that drought fuels the current protests.
In a city that has already run out of water, technical arguments lose weight against lived experience. Nobody who has filled a bucket at a neighbor’s house is willing to hear that a small percentage doesn’t make any difference in the reservoir.
The Igam did not disclose the flow rate in liters per hour
The missing data is precisely the most concrete. The authorization was communicated in terms of storage percentage, not flow rate.
Without liters per hour and without the timing of extraction, it is difficult for any resident to assess the actual impact on the reservoir’s level.
Moreover, studies on the dam’s capacity are still pending, which reinforces the feeling of decisions made before the budget is closed.
Lithium processing consumes water in industrial volumes
It’s worth explaining why a mining company needs so much water. The processing of spodumene involves crushing, grinding, and dense separation.
These steps use water in a closed circuit, with losses due to evaporation and moisture retained in the tailings. Thus, even with recirculation, there is a continuous need for replacement.
It’s a consumption that doesn’t disappear. It continues throughout the operation as long as the mine is producing.
What the water concession should have brought and didn’t in public debate
A well-communicated concession provides maximum flow rate, capture period, validity period, and conditions for suspension in the event of drought.
These four items enable anyone to assess the risk. Without them, only the isolated percentage remains, which does not clarify whether the withdrawal occurs year-round or only during peak seasons.
This is why the discussion stalled so quickly in Salinas. The missing data could turn opinion into calculation.
The concession is legal, and that is precisely the discomfort
No irregularity has been pointed out in the process. Igam is the competent authority for granting water resource use concessions in Minas Gerais.
What the public questions is not the legality, but the silence. A decision affecting the water supply reservoir was made without a hearing, without notice, and without a publicly available flow rate.
Thus, the conflict is not legal. It is about trust.
This type of wear and tear can be costly for the company itself. A mining project depends on a long-term relationship with the community, and beginning that relationship with a sense of hidden decision-making hinders licensing, contracting, and local hiring.
Residents took to the streets with signs and balloons
The protest brought together people in the downtown area, with banners demanding respect for the city’s water and balloons used as a symbol of the reservoir.
This is a grassroots mobilization from a small town, lacking union structure and a stage. Still, this type of demonstration usually captures the attention of the city hall and the Public Prosecutor’s Office within days.
In semi-arid regions, water mobilizes more than any other issue. Those who have relied on water trucks do not need a technical study to understand what’s at stake when it comes to reservoir levels.
The full report with the agency’s response can be found in O Tempo.
What Salinas brings to the table matters for all of northern Minas
The Brazilian lithium rush is encroaching on small towns with limited budgets and technical capacity to monitor the licensing process.
In this scenario, the transparency of the concession shifts from formality to the only real tool for control that residents have left. Without it, the city learns about decisions after they are made.
Those following the issue can also see how lithium exploration is advancing in Minas Gerais. What do you think about this decision?
Would your city know how much local reservoir water is committed to a private company?
