RIO DE JANEIRO, May 1, 2026, 12:03 (BRT)
- MRN won an IBAMA installation licence for the Novas Minas bauxite project in Pará.
- The licence clears construction work and supports operations in western Pará through 2041.
- Rio Tinto holds 22% of MRN, alongside Glencore and South32.
Mineração Rio do Norte, the Brazilian bauxite producer backed by Rio Tinto plc, has won an installation licence from Brazil’s environmental agency IBAMA for its Novas Minas project, clearing a key step for extending operations in western Pará state until 2041. An installation licence is the permit that lets a company start building a project, not the final licence to operate it.
The timing matters because bauxite, the ore used to make alumina and then aluminium, remains central to Rio Tinto’s aluminium chain. MRN plans to invest 9 billion reais, about $1.8 billion, between 2027 and 2041 and keep annual bauxite output near 12.5 million metric tons.
Rio Tinto is not the operator. Its website lists MRN as a non-managed operation and says the mine at Porto Trombetas is Brazil’s largest bauxite mine, with Rio Tinto owning 22%, South32 33% and Glencore 45%.
The licence closes an environmental review process that began in 2018 and allows MRN to begin construction at five new mining sites across three municipalities, according to Reuters. The project covers the Rebolado, Escalante, Jamari, Barone and Cruz Alta Leste plateaus in Oriximiná, Terra Santa and Faro.
Vladimir Senra Moreira, MRN’s sustainability and legal director, said the approval confirmed the project’s “technical and legal consistency”. He also pointed to MRN’s work with communities and institutions during the licensing process. Brasil Mineral
MRN Chief Executive Guido Germani called Novas Minas “decisive” for the company’s future and for western Pará, citing jobs, regional spending and the aluminium supply chain. Brasil Mineral reported that the project is expected to preserve more than 7,500 jobs, 85% of them held by workers from Pará. Brasil Mineral
The company says the new work will include preparing areas, building operational infrastructure, opening access routes and adding support structures. MRN also expects about 2,300 jobs during the installation phase and says the project should generate roughly 380 million reais a year in taxes and contributions.
For Rio Tinto, the Brazilian licence lands after a mixed first-quarter production update. The company reported bauxite output of 13.3 million tons in the March quarter, down 11% from a year earlier, while keeping its 2026 bauxite guidance unchanged at 58 million to 61 million tons.
Rio Tinto said in that April update that its integrated aluminium business had offset weather-related bauxite disruptions, while copper production rose 9% and Pilbara iron ore production rose 13%. The MRN licence does not change Rio’s near-term production guidance, but it gives the venture a longer runway for a core aluminium feedstock.
The risk sits in the Amazon licensing file. Repórter Brasil reported in March that quilombola communities near MRN’s operations had raised concerns over water, fishing, forest impacts and the way mitigation plans were handled. The same report said Brazil’s federal prosecutors questioned part of the Incra process; Incra said the claim that communities were not heard did not proceed, and MRN said Novas Minas met licensing and consultation requirements.
That leaves execution as the next test. MRN has the right to start installation work, but the company still has to build the project, meet licence conditions and manage community and environmental scrutiny before the new areas can carry full production.
For Rio Tinto plc, the win is not a headline takeover or a new mine under its direct control. It is a quieter Brazil bauxite development — but one tied to aluminium, a market where long-life supply still matters.
