Semad, a Minas Gerais environmental authority, has fined Anglo American BRL 125.5 million ($37.5 million) for a slurry pipeline burst on March 12 at its Minas-Rio iron ore project in Santo Antonio do Grama in Minas Gerais state, it said this week.
Semad said it has yet to issue a second fine for the March 29 incident, which ultimately resulted in the halt of the Minas-Rio iron ore production and sales for an estimated three months, as reported by SteelOrbis.
Anglo American had initially halted operations by the time of the first incident. It resumed activities but then had to stop production and iron ore sales following the second burst. Anglo American said on April 4 it was notified of Semad’s fine, but it did not say whether it would appeal the fine in courts.
Anglo American is currently negotiating iron ore orders, as it ran out of inventory. The Minas-Rio iron ore project comprises an open pit mine, a beneficiation plant producing high-grade pellet feed, and a 529kmlong (328milelong) pellet feed-transporting slurry pipeline connecting different cities in the states of Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro.