Brazil's department of mineral production, DNPM, said pellets producer Samarco could resume operations by February next year, following a deadly iron ore waste dam burst in November.
According to Walter Lins Arcoverde, supervisory director at DNPM, the estimate is based in the time Samarco should take to fix operations at the complex. Despite the estimate, the DNPM official noted Samarco hasn't officially shown nor indicated so far a time or a forecast for the restart of its operations in the region.
Arcoverde said Samarco, a 50/50 JV between Brazil's Vale and BHP Billiton, will need engineering restructuring works at the complex.
Last week, DNPM said all Samarco's structure in the region as well as Vale's Alegria iron ore mine should be inspected in the following days.