The diagnosis of the analysis of 130 environmental licensing and fiscalization processes regarding 81 ornamental stone quarries, located in five municipalities of the central-southern region of Minas Gerais State (Campo Belo, Candeias, Oliveira, São Francisco de Paula and Cláudio) is presented. These processes have been filed in the Minas Gerais Statal Foundation for the Environment - FEAM (Fundação Estadual do Meio Ambiente de Minas Gerais). The analysis of the processes, coupled with field work, revealed the lack of respect of the enterprises toward the infraction proceedings and mitigating measures proposed and required by FEAM. Consequently, several processes have been filed or pigeon-holed. The most visible result of such obstacle is that there has not been a single area of ornamental stone extraction in the study region under environmental recovery, which has been causing social impacts and costs. The recent effects of such extraction activies are even worse, specially in Candeias and São Francisco de Paula, because in several areas mining was paralized due to market and job decreases.
Mining; ornamental rock; environmental legislation; mineral economy; mineral politics
