Brazilian pellet producer Samarco, a 50/50 joint venture (JV) between Vale and BHP Billiton, could resume output by either July or August, a state environment authority said.
According to the Minas Gerais state environment authority, Semad, the estimate is “feasible” if Samarco meets the required criteria to do so.
Samarco halted its operations in November 2015, following the Mariana dam burst that killed 19 people. The company has not resumed operations since then, although it has closed several pellet shipment deals with existing inventory.
“Any business can resume activities, once it meets the [local] regulation,” a Semad official said.
According to Semad, it is currently performing technical inspections at Samarco. Those inspections should provide a state environment council enough information to decide on Samarco’s restart.