Brazilian miner and iron ore producer Vale commenced decommissioning the first of five dams it plans to deactivate this year, the company said this week.
Vale said it started this week decommissioning works at the dike 4 located at its Pontal dam in Itabira city, Minas Gerais state. The other four dams to be decommissioned this year include both the dike 3, the dike 4 of its Pontal system, the Baixo João Pereira dam in Congonhas city, as well as the supporting dike at its Barragem 5 dam in Nova Lima city, all located in the state of Minas Gerais.
Vale said it should decommission a total of 30 dams, out of which 12 or 40 percent the total 30 dams should be deactivated in 2022. The company said it decommissioned seven dams so far since 2019, including four in Minas Gerais state and three in Pará state.