Page 92 - Economia Azul - versão: inglês

soon it will not be enough to advertise “I am points out that “the green energy revolution offshore mining?Thus, if the future of sus- tal Shelf Survey Plan and carry out, from a
environmentally and socially correct”, it will depends heavily on raw materials such as co- tainable development and economic pros- technical and operational point of view, two
be necessary to demonstrate this, with high balt and lithium”, which lie on the bottom perity not only for Brazil, but for the planet, major national programs within the scope of
investment costs in clean technologies. How- of the sea in Brazil, in addition to the well- go through the reduction of CO2 emis- the Comissão Interministerial para os Recur-
ever, until that happens, one step at a time, known oil and natural gas. sions, whose technology depends on min- sos do Mar (CIRM - Interministerial Commis-
won’t mining cease to exist or slow down, or The future of sustainable development erals such as rare earths, cobalt and lithium, sion for the Resources of the Sea):
is someone looking to run out of cell phone and economic prosperity, not only for Brazil found on the seabed in areas above which I. Mineral Potentiality of the Brazilian Le-
battery to move their ideological causes? but for the planet, goes through the reduc- Brazil holds sovereign rights for exploration gal Continental Shelf Program (acronym
Reducing CO emissions will depend on tion of CO2 emissions, whose technology and economic exploitation purposes, so REMPLAC in Portuguese), politically co-
2
more mining, not less. In a recent study, Cox depends on minerals such as rare earth, what are the country’s plans to establish, ordinated by the Ministry of Mines and
et al. (2022) report that “the technology cobalt, and lithium, found on the seabed develop and prosper with offshore mining? Energy, to evaluate the mineral potential
used in the production of renewable energy in areas which Brazil holds sovereign rights Brazil has significant reserves and de- of the continental shelf in order to enable
is resulting in a significant increase in demand for exploration and economic exploitation posits of heavy seabed minerals, such as the sustainable use of non-living resourc-
for many minerals and metals”. In the same purposes, so what are the country’s plans monazite and rutile, rich in rare earth el- es, its contribution for the Gross Domestic
vein and naming minerals, Herrington (2021) to establish, develop and prosper with ements; siliciclastic granules (gravel and Product – national PIB (GDP) and the de-
velopment and consolidation of the blue
sand) and bioclastic granules (carbonates);
Figure 1. Offshore mining exploration in Brazil hydrogen deposits (phosphorites, polyme- economy (X PSRM – SPSR - Sectoral Plan
for Sea Resources); andProgram for the
tallic nodules and cobalt crusts); hydrother- Avaliação da Potencialidade Mineral da
mal deposits (in the form of polymetallic Plataforma Continental Jurídica Brasileira
sulfides and evaporite deposits), coal and (REMPLAC - Assessment of Mineral Po-
gas hydrates (see Figure 1). tentiality of the Brazilian Legal Continen-
Rare earths has reserves in limited regions tal Shelf), politically coordinated by the
and an insatiable consumption by the micro- Ministry of Mines and Energy, with the
electronics industry. Cobalt, the main input objective of evaluating the mineral po-
for batteries, has the Democratic Republic tential of the continental shelf, in order to
of Congo as the biggest player, whose inter- enable the sustainable use of non-living
nal instability affects the international cobalt resources, its contribution for the Gross
market. Phosphorites and polyphosphates Domestic Product – national PIB (GDP)
are essential components for the manufac- and the development and consolidation
of the blue economy (X PSRM – SPSR -
ture of fertilizers relevant to agriculture and Sectoral Plan for Sea Resources); and
agribusiness in Brazil and are in increasing
demand in the world market. They are pres- II. International South Equatorial Atlantic
Area Program (acronym PROAREA in Por-
ent in deposits concentrated in Western Sa- tuguese), whose policy coordination is the
hara (74% in Morocco and Mauritania). Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the objec-
Mining research on the legal continental tive of identifying and evaluating the min-
shelf of Brazil is mainly in charge of the GSB- eral potential of regions with economic
CPRM. The GSB-CPRM and the Secretariat of and political-strategic importance located
Geology, Mining and Mineral Transformation in the focus area, with a view to prepar-
of the Ministry of Mines and Energy (SG- ing a proposal for exploration of mineral
Source: CPRM CPRM) participate in the Brazilian Continen- resources to be submitted to the Interna-

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Blue Amazon: The Rio Grande Rise