Brazil's National Mining Agency has suspended its November 2020 decision to require Braskem to shut more salt mines at its former operation in Alagoas state, the petrochemicals producer said Jan. 5.
The company planned to close four salt wells and monitor another 31, but the agency demanded Braskem add more wells to its list. Neither the company nor the ANM specified the number of wells to be closed.
Braskem announced the move by the ANM in a market notice. The company has not immediately returned a query for clarification.
Decades of salt mining by Braskem and its predecessor companes in Alagloas have resulted in geological fissures and, in 2018, a mild earthquake in the state's capital city of Maceio. Local authorities filed a lawsuit against the company in April 2019 and Braskem immediately shut the salt mining operation as well as chlor-alkali and ethylene dichloride plants in Maceio.
Braskem in November estimated it would have to spend another Real 3 billion ($568 million) to close the additional salt mines. Braskem's total provisions to take care of geological damage in Alagoas have reached Real 9.1 billion in December.
