The Brazilian iron ore pellets producer Samarco has plans to restart in December 2024 the operations of its pellet plant No.3, idled since the accident in November 2015, when a rejects dam collapsed in Mariana, in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais.
Samarco has four pellet plants, of which only the plant number four is operating, under the restart plan of 2020.
According to the plan, the number three plant was expected to restart during the first quarter of 2025, but the anticipation, in the view of Samarco executives, quoted by the local newspaper A Gazeta, is very likely to occur, due to the advanced stage of the works.
The number three plant has a production capacity of 7.8 million mt per year, which added to the 9.0 million mt per year of the plant number four, will restore 60 percent of the company’s production capacity.