Brazilian pellet producer Samarco, a 50/50 JV between Brazil’s Vale and BHP Billiton, has extended to June 25 the paid leave it has granted to its workers, as the restart of Samarco’s operations remain uncertain.
About 1,200 workers have joined the program, out of which 500 are in the state of Minas Gerais.
“We’ve adopted the paid leave [known in Brazil as the lay-off regime] for three months, from January to April, with the perspective that we’d have a clearer evidence regarding the company’s restart, which didn’t happen. We don’t have a clear perspective for the company’s restart,” said Benedito Waldson, the company’s HR general manager.
Samarco now expects a Q4 restart.