Actor and environmental campaigner Leonardo DiCaprio has backed Indigenous opposition to Belo Sun Mining’s (TSX:BSX) proposed Volta Grande Gold Project in Brazil.
DiCaprio shared footage from a 22 September protest held during Climate Week in New York and directed followers to a campaign opposing the project. Indigenous leader Juma Xipaia participated in the demonstration, which was supported by environmental and Indigenous rights organisations Amazon Watch, Instituto Juma, and Earth Alliance.
Volta Grande is a proposed open-pit operation near the Xingu River in Pará state. Indigenous groups and environmental organisations have raised concerns about its potential effects on the river and surrounding communities, including whether consultation processes have been adequate.
The renewed attention comes as Brazil’s Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office asks the country’s Supreme Court to suspend a February ruling that reinstated the project’s installation licence.
Prosecutors argue that questions concerning Indigenous impacts and consultation remain unresolved, according to Italian news agency ANSA.
Belo Sun disputes the need for an emergency suspension. The company says it completed the required Indigenous Component Study and consultation process and has agreed not to begin physical construction while court-directed conciliation continues.
Its installation licence remains in effect while the Supreme Court considers the submissions.
A 2015 Feasibility Study estimated initial capital expenditure of US$298 million and average production of approximately 205,000 ounces of gold annually over 17.2 years. Belo Sun has since commissioned a technical review of the project, with no updated capital estimate announced.
Write to France Pinzon at Mining.com.au
Main image: Belo Sun Mining; Presidencia de la República Mexicana / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped)
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