Vice Governor Walter Alves led, this Monday (09), in the governorate, in his first official meeting by the state government, a meeting with representatives of Canadian Aura Minerals, a mining company focused on the development and the operation of mining projects in the Americas.

During the meeting, a memorandum of understanding was signed for the company’s installation in Currais Novos, in the Seridó region of the Rio Grande do Norte, where the Canadians want to focus on the production of “ounces of gold” to the east. The total investment was not informed.

“Here in Rio Grande do Norte, we don’t have giant deposits, but we have a wide variety of minerals. Last year, a geological map was produced as well as a map of mineral resources. When you start digging, you’ll see that there’s more than gold out there,” said Jaime Calado, Secretary of State for Economic development.

A memorandum of intent very similar to this was signed in October 2019 by the predecessor company called Cascar, which is the same company name that Aura took on in October 2022. It was precisely the Ouro Borborema project, in Currais Novos-RN. The new memorandum of understanding, signed with Aura Minerals, extends the validity period from two years to six years.

Borborema is an open pit gold project, located 30 kilometers east of the municipality of Currais Novos, with over 1.87 million ounces of gold in measured mineral resources. “Oz” is the system of measurement for gold, and 1 ounce equals 28.349 g.

The project is entering Aura’s portfolio as a growth project and its target is to enter operation in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to its representatives. The company estimates the creation of 747 direct jobs during construction and 600 direct jobs during operation.