Technical dossier and legal proceedings in Brazilian dimension stone mining

Abstract

This article presents a guide to be followed by mining companies willing to open a dimension stone quarry in Brazilian territory. It highlights the main technical documents required by Federal legislation to obtain mining authorization. These documents and their singularities were compiled based on a study of Brazilian mining laws, other normative instruments and scientific literature. The Brazilian mining law describes five Federal authorizations, in which two could be obtained for the dimension stone mining purpose: authorization/concession and licensing regimes. To obtainment the main mining permission may extend for many years. However, it is possible to acquire a kind of provisional permission in much less time, so that the quarry activities can begin before the acquisition of the main permission, which has no deadline. In general, the required technical mining dossier shows a wide range of information. For these reasons, one of the best ways to reduce the time spent through legal procedures is based upon paying special attention at the quality and level of proper instruction of the documents delivered to National Mining Agency (ANM). The author's experience reveals that knowledge of the technical documents provides legal safety for the company, in a context where the miner has to deal with economic, regulatory, environmental and occupational risks.