Análise do desenvolvimento de projetos de capital face ao processo de licenciamento ambiental: estudos de caso em projetos de mineração

Abstract

Mining Project Management, generally considered complex, often hasperformance problems associated with the deadlines to start operation, commonly postponed. In this sense, one of the major bottlenecks considered critical for mining projects schedules is the environmental licensing. This work discusses an exploratory study, focusing on the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, related to projects development that uses the Front End Loading (FEL) methodology, evaluating the procedures and main engineering products generated, correlating them to theenvironmental licensing process. The research was developed through exploratory case study, based on the analysis of the documents relating to 355 environmental licensing processes formalized in the mining licensing agency by 14 companies in this segment. Two projects, which use Front End Loading methodology in the development phase, were selected for detailed analysis, focusing on the main activities carried out in the process and the impacts on environmental licensing, diagnosing problems and proposing solutions. The main results of this analysis arethe long term demanded for obtaining licenses, higher than expected inenvironmental legislation, affecting the schedules of the projects; the high incidence of additional information requested by the environmental agency; identification of the main aspects that can impact the licensing process; generation of draft checklist to be applied to the licensing process before its protocol and changes in the flow adopted by the company for projects that use this methodology in its management, including early delivery of engineering products.