To the Editor:

I would like to begin by correcting some of the statistics quoted in the article [Brutality and Brazil, MM February, 1988] and provide a few more relevant ones about BP and our partners' mining operations in Brazil. The Brazilian Department of Mining's statistics show that for 1987 all international companies (through Brazilian subsidiaries as required by Brazilian law) held exploration and mining rights covering 191,000 square km which is 2.25 percent of Brazil's total land area.

As of May 1988, BP and its partners held prospecting rights over 31,026 square km and mining rights over 725 square km in total. Of this, the exploration interest attributable to BP (including 50 percent of the CESBRA interest and our share in other companies) extends to 20,184 square km, approximately 10 percent of the 1987 "Foreign Controlled Area" or one quarter of one percent of Brazil's total land area.

The areas of exploration interest should be seen in the context of the exploration process in Brazil. Vast areas have never been the subject of the proper exploration process in Brazil. Vast areas have never been the subject of proper geological surveys. In order to carry out regional studies from which areas of mineral potential can be identified it is necessary to scan large areas. To do this, prospecting licenses are obtained, most of which are subsequently relinquished (the geological information gained is placed in the public domain through the Ministry of Mines). Thus, although the prospecting companies are carrying out geological surveys over areas which are large by European standards, commercial development, with its potential for conflict with local communities, occurs in areas smaller by several orders of magnitude. BP itself is not involved in any such conflicts in the areas in which it has mining rights either directly or indirectly.

BP Mineracao, via a minority interest with a Brazilian company, holds one mining license for a project in the state of Mato Groso. An associate company also holds one mining license in the state of Minas Gerais. None of these are affected by actual or potential Indian rights, claims of interests. CESBRA holds 16 mining licenses mainly associated with its tin mining operations in Rondonia and has no activities on land occupied by Indians.

I assure you that BP is not involved in any campaign to open up Indian territories in the Carajas region or elsewhere in Brazil. The article is definitely mistaken in identifying BP with the conflicts of interest it describes. As a matter of policy we do not seek prospecting licenses in disputed areas.

John Mitchell
BP
London, England