Mining Disaster Strikes Vale, Again

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The world's leading iron ore producer, Vale SA (NYSE:VALE) (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), has suffered the second major disaster in less than four years.

On Friday, a tailings dam, holding back sludge byproduct from the iron ore mining process, burst at the Carrejo do Feijao mine in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. See Industrial Info's plant report on the Feijao mine. A wall of mud hit Vale's mining complex, including a cafeteria, as well as a populated area downhill from the site. At least 58 people have been confirmed dead, and around 300 remain missing, according to Reuters.

News of the disaster caused Vale's share price to plunge more than 20%. The company has suspended dividend payments and executive bonuses. In addition, Brazilian courts have issued orders to freeze 11.8 billion reais ($3.1 billion) from Vale's accounts to ensure the company can pay for rescue efforts and victim compensation, according to Reuters.

The burst dam is the second such incident to happen with Vale in less than four years. In November 2015, a dam owned by Vale and BHP Billiton Limited (NYSE:BBL) (Melbourne, Australia) at the Samarco mine, also in Minas Gerais, burst, killing 19 people and dumping billions of gallons of toxic sludge into a nearby river. The incident resulted in one of Brazil's worst environmental disasters.

Industrial Info is tracking more than $12.4 billion in Vale projects, including $5.87 billion in Brazil, some of which could be affected by the remuneration this latest disaster will bring. Some of these projects involve tailings ponds at iron ore mines in Brazil. For example, Vale plans to kick off a tailings dam optimization project at its Carajas iron ore mine complex in the state of Para. The project would enable the recovery of 9.7 million tons of iron ore fines from the Gelado tailings dam in order to feed a pelletizing plant. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Click on the image at right for a breakdown by country of active Vale projects.

At its Itabira complex in Minas Gerais, Vale is in the planning stage for a tailings-recovery plant addition. The project entails installing a dry magnetic separation tailing reprocessing plant in order to recover 20 million tons of iron-pellet feed. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Projects could be cancelled or delayed in order to increase funding for safety measures.

Such decisions also could affect projects in North America. In Newfoundland, Vale plans this year to begin work at its Voisey's Bay nickel mine and concentrator. The project is to extend the mine's life to 2035 by building two underground mines to replace the above-ground section, which is scheduled to be completed in 2022. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Last year, Vale began a restart/expansion project at the Cliff nickel mine in Ontario. The project involves reopening the mine's South Mine Shaft as a 3,000-ton-day operation. The project could take up to four years to complete. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

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