Mining: A record in rock exports

According to a survey carried out in the Mining Register system of the National Agency of Mining (ANM - 2021), there are 5.899 active mining processes in Ceará, being 21 extraction registration requests, 846 research authorization requests, 370 license registration requests, 41 requests for permission to mine, 370 mining requests, 5 extraction registrations, 857 licensing, 8 mining permissions, 288 mining concessions, 2. 312 research authorizations, 543 for availability, 153 suitable for availability, and 85 with the right to request mining.

Looking at the Ceará State Mineral Yearbook (2019 - base year 2018), the State of Ceará had mineral reserves of copper ore, iron ore, manganese ore, gold ore, sand, common clays, plastic clays, volcanic tuff, limestone, calcite, diatomite, dolomite, magnesite, feldspar, phosphate, gypsum, graphite, mica, slate, ornamental sandstone, ornamental granite, ornamental gneiss and related rocks, ornamental marble and related rocks, ornamental quartzite, other ornamental rocks (carving stone, soapstone, basalt, etc.), gravel, phyllite, and uranium.

According to a report in the newspaper O Povo, Ceará expects to set a record in stone exports in 2022. Only in September 2022, there were 2.05 million dollars in exports, which placed the state in third position among ornamental stones exporters in the country - behind Espírito Santo (819.8 million dollars) and Minas Gerais (112.2 million dollars).

According to data from the Ceará State Mineral Yearbook (2019 - base year 2018), and according to the importance of mineral extraction, we can highlight the following mineral substances in Ceará: mineral water (34.75%), crushed stone/gravel (19.84%), limestone (18.38%), ornamental rocks (19.15%), clay (1.86%), sand (0.54%), sand/clay (0.16%), magnesite (0.86%), iron ore/manganese ore (3.28%), argillite (0.14%), phyllite (0.15%), manganese ore (0.09%), gneiss (carving stone - 0.04%) and dolomite (0.09%).

The value of the State's mineral production added up to 685,434,129 reais (about 129 million dollars).

See here the Mining Atlas of Ceará, produced by the Federation of Industries of the State of Ceará (Fiec).

See here the Overview of the Mining Sector of Ceará, prepared by the Development Agency of the State of Ceará (Adece).