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Workshop Team Wins Award for Brazilian Mining Project
Bauxite mining has brought economic benefits to Pará, Brazil, but concerns surfaced that the mining operations are being conducted in an unsustainable manner and without reciprocal benefits for local communities. To better understand the risks associated with bauxite mining, IOS and CAENI conducted initial studies on the environmental impacts and labor conditions in five mining operations in Pará, including those operated by Albras and Alunorte (which are majority-owned by Vale, Brazil’s largest mining company), MRN and Alcoa. They found that the mining companies were complying with local labor laws and international labor standards, but that environmental risks were being addressed more slowly, and that there was a lack of effective social dialogue among local stakeholders across the aluminum value chain.