Brazil’s Amazon Potash Mine Aims to Secure Fertilizer Independence Amid Global Trade Shifts
Brazil’s Fertilizer Dependence
Brazil’s booming agricultural sector—now the world’s top exporter of soybeans—has long relied on imported fertilizer. Around 90% of Brazil’s nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium is sourced abroad. The war in Ukraine and Western sanctions on Russia have repeatedly disrupted supply, leaving the world’s largest tropical farming power exposed to price spikes and shortages.
“We have a gift from God here, and we need to make the most of it,” said Raphael Bloise, head of Brazil Potash’s operations. The project could transform Brazil from a vulnerable importer to a regional leader in fertilizer production.
The Promise of the Amazon Potash Basin
The mineral deposits, discovered by Petrobras more than 50 years ago while drilling for oil, stretch over 250 miles beneath the jungle. The Amazon Potash Basin is among the world’s largest known reserves of potassium chloride—remnants of an ancient ocean that dried millions of years ago.
Once operational, the Autazes mine would produce about 2.4 million tons of potash annually, all for domestic use. The deposits could make Brazil largely self-sufficient in fertilizer production, strengthening its agriculture against geopolitical shocks and bolstering its role as a top global food supplier.
Balancing Opportunity and Environmental Risk
The project’s location—deep in the state of Amazonas—poses significant environmental and social challenges. Critics warn that mining infrastructure, such as roads, ports, and power lines, could open new frontiers for illegal deforestation and land grabbing. The mine’s developers counter that producing fertilizer domestically could reduce pressure on forests by allowing farmers to restore nutrient-depleted fields instead of clearing new land.
Indigenous Partnerships and Community Tensions
The Autazes site overlaps parts of the ancestral territory of the Mura people, an indigenous group historically affected by colonial exploitation and illegal mining. After years of negotiations, 35 of the 40 Mura villages in the region have endorsed the project in exchange for social investments in schools, healthcare, and small-scale agriculture.
“Who doesn’t want to drink a glass of chilled water from the fridge, or have a car, or sleep in a room that’s air-conditioned?” said Aldinelson Moraes Pavão, chief of the village of Urucurituba, expressing cautious optimism about the development.
Economic Potential for a Remote Region
The Autazes mine could bring thousands of jobs to a region plagued by poverty and unemployment. Mayor José Thomé Neto said the project could double the town’s population over the next 30 years, adding that “this project will contribute to food security in our country but also a new economic model for the state.”
The company plans to construct a 102-mile power line and a new port terminal on the Madeira River to facilitate the shipment of fertilizer to central farming regions. Chinese investors have shown interest in financing the project, potentially linking potash exports with long-term crop purchase agreements.
A Defining Test for the Amazon’s Future
As world leaders gather in the Amazon for the U.N. climate summit, the Autazes mine encapsulates Brazil’s central dilemma: how to develop its natural resources while protecting one of the planet’s most vital ecosystems. With 30 million people living in the Brazilian Amazon—many of whom live in deep poverty—the stakes for balancing sustainability and development have never been higher.