TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The final exploration reports for TSX-listed Verde Potash’s Cerrado Verde mineral licences were given the nod by the National Department of Mineral Production (DNPM), paving the way for the fertiliser developer to submit an economic development plan.

“We are pleased that the DNPM has approved the final exploration reports for these mineral tenements. This is an important permitting milestone that advances us towards receipt of a mining concession (Portaria de Lavra) and thus further de-risks the mining side of the project,” president and CEO Cristiano Veloso said.

Miners in Brazil must submit a final exploration report to the DNPM before the licence expires. Exploration licences are granted for a period of one to three years and are renewable for a further three years.

Fertilisers and their increased application would be critical in driving Brazil’s status as a global agricultural powerhouse. The country was already the world’s fourth-largest consumer.

Verde, which is developing the Cerrado Verde project in the heart of Brazil’s largest agriculture market, would play a critical role in boosting local potash production. Brazil’s government had set a target to become ‘fertiliser independent’ by 2020, by which time the third phase of the Cerrado Verde mine would have been constructed and the mine would be producing potassium chloride at a rate of three-million tons a year.

Agribusiness directly accounted for about 25% of Brazil’s gross domestic product and 35% of employment. Brazil is a world-leading producer of sugar cane, corn, soybeans, coffee, oranges, eucalyptus and cotton and supported a number of industries with agricultural products grown for fuel, pulp and paper, and textiles.

Agribusiness accounted for $63-billion of Brazilian exports in 2009, about 39% of all of the country’s exports.

In 2012, Brazil consumed 8.1-million tonnes of potash, of which 7.5-million tonnes or 93% was imported, making it the world’s largest potash importer.