Bolsonaro revives a plan to carve a road through one of Brazil’s last untouched areas

Fonte: Mongabay

Calha Norte has also drawn interest from mining companies, especially since Bolsonaro sent a bill to Congress to authorize mineral extraction on indigenous lands.

According to a survey by the São Paulo Pro-Indian Commission, an organization that supports the quilombolas of Calha Norte, in the municipality of Oriximiná alone mining companies have submitted 265 requests for exploration on indigenous lands and 84 on quilombola lands.

The territory is close to the National Copper and Associates Reserve (RENCA), an area the size of Denmark that is rich in copper, gold, titanium, tantalum and tungsten. In 2017, then-President Michel Temer suggested opening the area to private-sector exploitation, a measure that may be pushed through this year by Bolsonaro.