A preliminary decision from a court in Brazil's Itabira city, in the country's southeastern Minas Gerais state, has ordered Vale to suspend activities at two of its tailings dams, following a request from the Minas Gerais state prosecutors' office, MPMG.
Vale immediately complied with the decision, which affects the dams of Minervino and Cordão Nova Vista, part of the Cauê mine, the company said on Monday March 18.
The suspension had no impact to production, because the Cauê mine is currently not using the affected dams, according to the company. The structures have stability certificates from September 2018, Vale added.
Vale also said it increased surveillance and restricted access to the suspended dams.
Another legal decision against Vale was the asset block of up to 1 billion Reais ($262 million) by the local court of Nova Lima city, also in Minas Gerais, Vale said on Monday.
"In addition to the block of funds, the decision also requires that Vale pays for the sheltering, lodging, maintenance and feeding of the removed people," the miner noted.
The state prosecutors' office in Minas Gerais also has requested that Vale gather 50 billion Reais ($13.11 billion) in order to compensate for environmental damages following an accident at one of the company's tailings dams , MPMG said on March 15.
A request was filed to the local judge of the city of Brumadinho, in the Minas Gerais state, asking for the funds. If the request is granted by the court, Vale would be obligated to create a fund to hold at least one-year's worth of cash needed for environmental repairs.
On January 25, waste material flooded the miner's facilities, part of the local community and the Paraopeba river after a tailings dam at Vale's Feijão mine in the city of Brumadinho ruptured. In addition to damaging the environment, 203 people have been confirmed dead following the accident, and 105 more remain missing.
The disaster prompted Vale to temporarily stop operations of the mine, which contributed around 40 million tonnes of iron ore to its annual production.
Later, Minas Gerais' environmental agency, Semad, decided to revoke the permits of a dam in another unit, Brucutu, which has capacity to produce around 30 million tonnes per year of iron ore.
This supply disruption boosted iron ore prices.
The Fastmarkets MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index reached $90.58 per tonne cfr Qingdao, China, on February 11. Prices have since corrected and stood at $88.26 per tonne on March 18.
source: fastmarket |
