"Brazilian miners set to miss deadline for removal of tailings dams", 09 February 2022

...Vale and other Brazilian mining companies are set to miss a legal deadline in the state of Minas Gerais for the removal of all tailings dams built using a method linked to past collapses, and the industry is seeking to change it...

The Minas Gerais law, which requires the removal of all dams constructed using the upstream method, in which the wall of the structure is formed using dried mining waste. The upstream design was used in Brumadinho and also on the Samarco dam that collapsed in the city of Mariana in 2015.

Those in breach of the law could have their operating license suspended...

Fiemg decided to appeal to the courts to avoid potential penalties linked to the deadline and find ways to make it more flexible depending on the scope of the work involved...

Vale, owner of the largest number of dams related to iron ore production in the state, has eliminated four upstream dams in Minas Gerais since 2019 and another three it has in Pará state, of the 30 it found across the company, according to a report by the miner...

Vale, in a comment to Reuters, reiterated its commitment to decommission upstream dams in the South American nation and prevent new disasters.

There are other upstream dams in the state owned by companies like CSN, Gerdau and ArcelorMittal, according to records of the regulator ANM and the Minas Gerais government.

ANM, CSN, Gerdau and ArcelorMittal did not immediately respond to requests for comment...