Brazilian iron ore pellet producer Samarco Mineração, a joint venture between Vale and BHP, resumed operations on Dec 11, five years after the Fundão dam collapsed in Mariana city, Minas Gerais.
The Samarco mining complex will start operations at 26pc of its 23mn mt per year installed capacity, according to media reports. Duarte Júnior, mayor of Mariana city, held a meeting with Rodrigo Alvarenga Vilela, president of Samarco, to discuss the resumption details.
The Fundão dam, which was built to accommodate waste from iron ore extraction, began operations in 2008 with a 25-year lifespan. Seven years later, the dam was at 71pc fine tailings capacity. In November 2015 the Fundão tailings dam failed as a consequence of a chain of events, killing 19 people.
Brazil’s iron ore exports fell by 29.7pc to 20.5mn mt in November 2020, from 29.2mn mt in the same month the prior year.