Brazilian miner and iron ore producer Vale said this week it will decommission 10 dams, following the Brumadinho disaster, with a deal toll of 110 people so far. No survivors have been found since January 26, and 238 people are still missing.
Vale said it will invest BRL 5 billion to decommission the 10 dams, which are similar to the one that collapsed. The full decommissioning will take approximately three years, the company said, and production at the respective mines will be halted.
As a result, the company will lose a capacity of 40 million mt/year, including pellet feed to produce 11 million mt/year of pellets, which comprises 10 percent of the company’s total annual output. The company plans to employ all its workers at other facilities.
Vale said it was already in the process of decommissioning inactive iron ore waste dams since a similar incident at its Samarco subsidiary in November 2015. Out of 19 dams, nine were already decommissioned. After the Brumadinho incident, the company has “accelerated” the process.