Alert triggered at another Vale dam due to risk of rupture – ElSol.com.ar – Diario de Mendoza, Argentina

A dam of the Vale mining company in Brazil was the subject of a great warning because of the risk of rupture, two months after the fall of a dam in the same region, making 209 deaths and 97 missing, confirmed the company Saturday.

Vale said in a statement that the risk level of the Barao de Cocais mine dam, in the state of Minas Gerais, had been raised from 2 to 3, the highest level, after an independent auditor has stressed the "critical condition of stability" of the deposit.

As the company, the largest producer and exporter of iron in the world, explains, warnings have also been triggered in the region as a precautionary measure, the area near the dam having already been evacuated on February 8 because of the risk. a break.

The barrage at Barao de Cocais, which is inactive, is similar to that which collapsed on January 25 in the city of Brumadinho, also located in the state of Minas Gerais (southeast).

Then, A river of mud and mineral waste buried the facilities of the mine and houses surrounding the dam in a matter of seconds, leaving a salvage of 209 dead and 97 missing, as well as incalculable environmental damage.

After the tragedy, authorities opened an investigation to clarify Vale's responsibility for the disaster, the mining giant's second star in just over three years.

In 2015, the closure of several dams by mining company Samarco, controlled by Vale and BHP Billiton, caused 19 deaths in Mariana, also located in Minas Gerais, and caused the biggest environmental disaster in the history of Brazil .

After the 2015 disaster, Fabio Schvartsman badumed the presidency of Vale with the promise of "Mariana Never", but the executive was forced to resign earlier this month after the OTP's pressure on the tragedy from Brumadinho.

Schvartsman was then temporarily replaced by Eduardo Salles Bartolomeo, executive director of base metals at the company.