The Brazilian minister of mines and energy, Fernando Coelho Filho, said he’s been personally involved in different negotiations to help local pellet producer Samarco resume its activities.
The minister is reportedly holding talks with Ibama, Brazil’s environmental authority, the state of Minas Gerais, and cities near the plant to help Samarco resume its activities by H2.
“We expect Samarco to be operating by H2 this year,” the minister said.
Samarco, a 50/50 JV between Vale and BHP Billiton, halted its operations in November 2015, following a deadly iron ore waste dam burst that killed 19 people and polluted most of the nearby Doce River.
Coelho Filho said his efforts to help Samarco resume its operations are part of the Brazilian government’s measures to boost investments in the mining segment, as the country expects to approve new mining bills.
Samarco depends on pending licensing documents from the Minas Gerais state environment agency, Semad, and from the city of Santa Barbara, which is yet to issue a compliance letter.
Recently, Samarco said the pending compliance letter from the city of Santa Barbara was likely to delay its H2 restart forecast.