Exploração da bauxita e dinâmicas espaciais em Juruti - PA

Abstract

The exploitation of bauxite is a dynamic element of the spatial production process. The arrival and establishment of the mining enterprise in Juruti (PA) caused social, economic, political and environmental impacts. The objective of this work is to analyze the impacts of the arrival and operation of the Alcoa mining company in Juruti, identifying the subjects involved and their rationalities, as well as the political, economic and historical context in which the mining project in Juruti took place. In the methodological process, we adapted the four levels of the geographical research proposed by Libault (1971) in the execution of this work: the compilatory level, correlation level, semantic and interpretative level. The analysis was based on the interface of the Geosystemic and Socio-spatial Training meta-approach. From the analysis performed, we identified that the dynamics of mining has its concreteness in specific places and from this are constructed structures of several matrices that give support to the operation of the activity. Mining is the result of the articulation of different scales (regional, national and international) that takes place in the geographic space generating changes in the landscape and conflicts with the local subjects. Regarding the area of coverage, in Juruti we identified two types of impacts: areolar and linear. However, the impacts are not presented in a homogeneous way, they can be relative, temporary or structural. We conclude that in the case of Juruti Alcoa is the main conditioning agent of the process of spatial restructuring. Where, the changes occurred in Juruti did not negate the importance of preexisting spaces, but influenced processes such as urban growth, expansion of services and infrastructure. Juruti is one of the most recent areas to receive a mining project, where the site had to adapt to the interests of capital and "coexist" with the multiple impacts caused by mining.