Vallourec Tubos do Brasil, the local subsidiary of French pipe producer Vallourec, said its Santa Bárbara iron ore dam, located at its Pau Branco mine, had its risk level reduced to zero.
Vallourec Tubos do Brasil said the new risk level attests the stability of the structure. In Brazil, mining and iron ore dams have risk levels ranging from 0 to 3, in which level 3 means the structure is likely to collapse.
Vallourec Tubos do Brasil said it had to perform to correcting works at the dam’s spillway structure in the past few months.
Due the correcting works, the company got a stability certificate, which attests the safety of the dam. The stability certificate was issued by a third-party auditing company.