Samarco Licensing Moving Forward Despite Fines, Regulator Says
- Agency sees merit in miner’s plan to dispose of waste in pit
- BHP-Vale venture still needs to prove it has contained leaking
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Samarco’s quest to obtain permits for resuming its Brazilian iron-ore operations is progressing despite environmental fines and a court order, with a mid-2017 restart still possible, the state licensing agency said.
The venture owned by BHP Billiton Ltd. and Vale SA, which halted work a year ago after a tailings dam collapse, is seeking a new operating license as well as additional permits to deposit waste into an unused pit called Alegria Sul rather than building a new dam. Minas Gerais state environmental regulator Semad sees merit in the Alegria Sul option, which the company says would allow it to resume at partial capacity for about two years.