"Prosecutors appeal against license for Belo Sun’s US$300mn gold project in Brazil", 20 February 2026

...The Canadian miner Belo Sun continues to face challenges with the permitting of its Volta Grande gold project, with capex estimated at almost US$300 million, in the Brazilian state of Pará.

After the mining company celebrated a recent court decision that reinstated the project’s installation license, prosecutors are now seeking to overturn the rule.

“The federal prosecutors' office (MPF) filed an appeal against the preliminary decision of the Federal Regional Court...In the appeal, the body requests the immediate suspension of the license, arguing that the approval of the project was based on mistaken premises, since the company did not fully comply with the judicial conditions related to the protection of the affected communities,” said the MPF in a statement.

"The appeal warns that the authorization for the advancement of gold exploration works in the region may generate permanent social, environmental, and cultural impacts even before a final judgment on the regularity of the process, with a risk of irreversible damage," he emphasized...

Prosecutors argue that the project has major impacts on Indigenous lands, including environmental concerns related to the Xingu River and the cumulative effects with the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant, in the Volta Grande do Xingu region.

According to the MPF, the company’s project will form a tailings dam of 35 million cubic meters, in an area where there is arsenic, antimony, lead, copper, and sulfur...