The Brazil’s miners will invest a record $75 billion in the industry between 2012 and 2016, making it the country’s highest-value private sector business, according to mining institute Ibram.

The investment will be higher than the $68.5 billion estimated by Ibram for the 2011-2015 period, José Fernando Coura, Ibram’s director-president, said during the opening ceremony of the 2nd International Congress on Mining Law in Salvador, Bahia state.

Coura did not disclose investments per mineral, but said that iron ore continues to play the main role within Brazil’s mining industry and predicted that investments in iron ore would reach $45 billion, or 68% of the total, in the 2011-2015 period.

Iron ore output reached 467 million tonnes in 2011, 25% up on 2010, he added.

Juan Weik
jweik@metalbulletin.com
Twitter: @jvweik