Reports that a major Japanese mining group is planning to buy all of Brazil’s foreign debt — about $115 billion — in exchange for exclusive gold mining rights to the Amazon have been greatly exaggerated, says an official at the Brazil-Canada Chamber of Commerce. Antonino Cravero, who heads up the Chamber’s Toronto office, says there have been “some big rumors” going around lately regarding a Japanese firm’s proposal to mine Amazon gold as part of a major debt conversion deal.
“It’s quite logical that the Japanese would be looking at Brazil’s resource potential,” says Cravero. But it’s also unlikely that Brazil would give up exclusive mining rights in the Amazon where most of the country’s gold potential exists. “That would be equivalent to giving the country away,” he says.
He does not rule out the possibility of a significant new Japanese investment in Brazilian mining in the next couple of years, however.
“The new government still has to reassure foreign investors that laws won’t be changed overnight by decree,” he says.
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