São Paulo – Three companies from Minas Gerais have joined forces to explore iron ore in the state and want to attract foreign capital to the project. The group is called Consórcio Corporativo Novo Horizonte and is made up of Mineração Minas Bahia (Miba), Mineração e Transportes Minas Ltda. (MTransminas) and Gema Verde Comércio e Exportação de Minerais e Serviços Ltda. According to the CEO at Miba, Alexandre Couri Sadi, a company in the United Arab Emirates is seeking investors in the Arab country to participate in the project.
Sadi was in the Emirates in October, when he was heading to the China Mining fair, in China, and made contact with Emirates Trade House, a company in the country that has agreed to seek investors for exploration of the ore in the north of Minas. Emirates Trade House, according to Sadi, belongs to a Brazilian and a businessman from the Emirates. They agreed to answer the consortium regarding the interest generated by the project by the end of the year.
The consortium is also in contact with other possible foreign investors. The most promising negotiations, according to Sadi, are with the Chinese. Importers and producers of ores from China, who currently import from Vale do Rio Doce, the Brazilian mining company, are interested in the reserves, according to Sadi, and in producing for export to their country. As soon as the talks reach a more advanced level, the potential investors may come to Brazil to learn more about the potential of the reserves.
Currently, Miba, MTransminas and Gema Verde produce ore individually in other parts of the state of Minas. Miba also exports iron ore from the state of Bahia. They established the consortium specifically to work in northern Minas, as the region has a logistics problem, the lack of transport routes to take the ore to ports. The group is studying the possibility of building a railway branch connected to Railway 334, which is under construction, connecting the northern state of Tocantins to Ilhéus, in Bahia.
According to Sadi, the mining project should demand US$ 2 billion in investment. The studies by the three companies, which demanded US$ 30 million, have already shown the existence of 12 billion tonnes of iron ore in the region. The area covers 20 cities in northern Minas, among them Salinas, Rio Pardo de Minas, Porteirinha and Grão Mol. Miba studied 13,000 metres, Mtransminas, 12,000 metres (and is furthering the research) and Gema Verde, around 4,000 metres.
Entry into operation of exploration works, however, depends on construction of the railway. For this, the government of the state of Minas Gerais is developing a study to be presented to the federal government requesting funds. Railway 334 received funds from the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC). In Ilhéus, where it should arrive, a second port should also be built, in deep waters, to receive large vessels. According to Sadi, a second step of operation should be construction, by the company, of an ore transfer line to Belmonte, in Bahia. In this case, the construction of a port should also be necessary.
*Translated by Mark Ament
