The green of metal: an ethnography of metal extraction from mining tailings

• Grant number: 24/10510-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: January 01, 2025
• End date: March 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Anthropology
• Principal Investigator: Jorge Luiz Mattar Villela
• Grantee: Carolina Lara Suzuki de Matos
• Host Institution: Centro de Educação e Ciências Humanas (CECH). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Mining and metallurgy enterprises are widely spread across Minas Gerais and their impacts mark the state's landscapes. Faced with a series of socio-environmental crimes in recent years, such as the collapse of tailings dams, deforestation and atmospheric pollution, such industrial practices have been confronted with demands for "sustainability" and management of the waste produced by their processes. In this context, the industry has sought to invest in new technologies, such as "green steel", which is produced without the emission of greenhouse gases. In Brazil, the North American company Boston Metal is entering this new market by installing a factory in the city of Coronel Xavier Chaves, located in the micro-region of São João Del Rei, Minas Gerais. Its technology - Molten Oxide Electrolysis (MOE) - was developed to extract metals from the tailings of conventional extractive mining, using electrical energy. Considering this context, the project seeks to understand the landscape that is formed through the use of this technology, taking into account its implications for the management of these wastes. Looking at the socio-technical controversies of this new project through documentary research, bibliographical reviews and ethnographic experiences, the interest is to produce an ethnography that allows us to understand the political and technical aspects of this enterprise, as well as the subjects associated with it.