About 40 quilombola leaders from Jambuaçu, in the municipality of Moju, visited Hydro's bauxite mine, located in Paragominas, in the southeast of Pará, in November. The goal was to strengthen Hydro's relationship with the communities, establishing direct development partnerships, based on the company's sustainability strategy. The visitors were able to experience the company's history and learn more details about the operations firsthand.

“It is part of Hydro's commitment to promote dialogue and actions that favor good relations with local communities, developing partnerships and social initiatives that make a positive difference, in the short, medium, and long term, focusing on education, culture, work and income, and the environment, for example. This visit is another initiative aimed at approach and transparency, an opportunity to clear doubts and receive criticism and suggestions so that the joint construction is feasible and concrete,” explains Eduardo Bustamante, Hydro's Manager of Dialogue and Engagement, responsible for community relations and facilitating the initiative.

The visitors saw up close how the mine operates from the extraction of the ore, through the beneficiation process, to the beginning of sending the bauxite slurry through the pipeline to the Hydro Alunorte refinery in Barcarena. They also learned about the ecological trail and the nursery where the company maintains an inventory of local flora seedling species used in the recovery of mined areas. Currently, the space has approximately 160 species adaptable to the region's reality. The visit was created from the suggestion of the associations representing the communities these leaders are part of, during dialogue meetings throughout 2023.

The president of the Remanescente de Quilombo Olorum Association of Santa Luzia do Tracuateua, Antônio Valadares, was one of the visitors and visited the mine for the first time. “This visit demystified a lot, we had another idea of what the enterprise was before getting here, especially in relation to vegetation suppression. So, it was a big surprise to know the nursery, the reforestation that is done. The partnership with the company is being built day by day, phase by phase, at each new meeting like this. I hope it is a learning experience for both sides,” he comments.