Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff said during a joint conference with her Argentine peer Cristina Fernández at Government House in Buenos Aires that she was certain the Vale mining company “would find a way to reach an agreement with the Argentine authorities” on the suspended project.
Top officials from the Brazilian mining company Vale which suspended a 6 billion dollars potash development project in Argentina left the country for Sao Paulo last Friday following “on instructions from the security department” of the corporation, according to reports in the Brazilian press.
A major conflict could be brewing between Argentina and Brazil after Rio’s Vale decided to cancel a 6 billion dollars potash development project in Mendoza and the Argentine Labour minister issued a mandatory conciliation which actually impedes implementation of the closing down decision.
The government of President Cristina Fernandez is furious with the Brazil-based Vale mining company for suspending its 6 billion dollars potash development in Mendoza, the largest investment in Argentina in recent years.
Brazilian mining giant Vale announced on Monday it has suspended the 6 billion dollars Río Colorado potash project in Mendoza province. The mining, main producer of iron had halted the work on the project back in December, awaiting tax breaks for the project to help to compensate for soaring costs related to inflation and exchange rates.
Argentine authorities backed away from a recent ultimatum for Brazilian mining giant Vale to submit a new timeline for its 6 billion dollars Rio Colorado potash mine, giving the company more time to find a solution for the imperiled project.
The government of the Argentine province of Mendoza is studying documents presented by Vale that could allow the Brazilian miner to continue with a 4.6 billion US dollars potassium project, said an official in Mendoza.