The Ceará mining market may receive a new investment in the coming months that will diversify the sector for the minerals metallic canadian company.. According to the director of the National Mining Agency (ANM), Tomás Figueiredo Filho, the Canadian group Discovery Group will carry out a new investment in research in the state.
Therefore, to better identify the platinum extraction potential. Representatives of the foreign company should come to Ceará between the 23rd and 24th of March to supervise studies that could help to scale an extraction mine in the future.
Confirmation for the investment came during business roundtables at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC 2020), one of the largest mining conventions in the world. Figueiredo went to the event to represent the Brazilian Government and present the national scenario for attracting new investments.
However, detailing the possibilities of the new regulatory framework for mining in Brazil. The company, however, did not indicate the value of the investment, which should be measured after feasibility studies.
In addition to investing in Ceará, the Canadian group is also known for mining gold in Guatemala.
“I had a meeting with a Canadian company that acquired a license to carry out research in an area in the interior of Ceará and it is coming at the end of March to expand the research. Since to make new investments and plan the implementation of the mine”, explained the director of ANM.
For Figueiredo, the arrival of a large company in the mining sector in Ceará, also considering the metallic minerals market, may be important to consolidate Ceará as a “safe and stable port” for investments in this sector.
Scenario
The director also highlighted the current economic scenario as a driver of these new investments. The Brazilian basic interest rate (Selic) at a low level (4.5%) and the Federal Government's policies to encourage the private market in the country. They can be pointed out as highlights to understand this most propitious moment of the economy.
“If (foreign companies) see Brazil as a politically stable environment, with a good regulatory environment, we can see a rise in the development of the sector, as companies seek safer places,” said Tomás.
He also highlighted the potential that Ceará has for the mining sector, with several studies already underway for different types of minerals. Still on the sector, Figueiredo highlighted the work of ornamental stone companies in Ceará. However, platinum is expected to be used for the production of items related to new technologies, batteries and the like.
Analysis
Despite the prospect of a new investment in the State, the president of the Marble and Granite Industry Union of Ceará (Simagran), Carlos Rubens Alencar. However, he considered that investments in the mining sector of metallic materials have a very high cost and, generally, require a longer time to present more practical results to the Canadian company.
Carlos Rubens also pointed out that Ceará needs a greater investment in detailed studies of capacity and evaluation of rocks. According to the president of Simagran, the most qualified study in the state indicates a specification of potential based on kilometers (km). However, what can cause several deposits to be lost in spaces without greater detail. The president of Simagran also highlighted the export potential of the ornamental stone sector in the State.
“Ceará is a very little researched state. It has a regular to good base of geological mapping, but it needs to be deepened. That means we have mile-by-mile detail, so it's a very spaced-out basis. A granite quarry can fit 100 meters, so the level of detail is still very small,” said Rubens.
