A Brazilian court in the state of Minas Gerais has unblocked BRL 50 million ($10.7 million) from Vale to allow it fund technical studies following the deadly Brumadinho iron ore waste dam break, which killed 259 people. The studies will determine how much compensation Vale should pay to the people affected by the disaster.
The funds are a portion of the BRL 5 billion ($1.07 billion) a Brazilian court blocked from Vale as a way to cover environmental expenses.
The Brumadinho disaster had a major impact in Vale’s balance sheets in both Q4 and full-year 2019. Vale posted a net loss of $1.56 billion in Q4 2019, and a loss of $1.68 billion in full-year 2019.
The company attributed both losses to the Brumadinho dam break, including dam decommissioning and repair agreements.