Brazilian miner and iron ore producer Vale said on Thursday it noticed “an anomaly” at its Forquilha IV dam, located at its Fábrica mine, in the city of Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais state.
Vale said the dam’s stability certificate could be canceled due to the anomaly, which was reported during a routine inspection. Vale said the Forquilha IV dam has not received iron ore waste since February this year.
The miner said that due to the anomaly, it had to trigger a level one emergency protocol, which doesn’t require the company to evacuate local communities. A level three indicator suggests a given dam may burst at any time.
Vale said the emergency protocol won’t change the company’s production plans for 2019. The dam inspection follows an agreement with local mining agency, ANM.