Vale Sets Aside $1.9 Billion to Decommission Nine Mine Dams

  • CEO says Vale won’t spare resources to address safety concerns
  • Mining companies are reacting to greater scrutiny of mine dams
Residents and rescue workers survey damage after a Vale SA dam burst in Brumadinho on Jan. 26.Photographer: Victor Moriyama/Bloomberg
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

Vale SA, the world’s largest iron-ore miner, set aside $1.9 billion to accelerate the decommissioning of nine mine-waste dams in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state as part of its response to the deadliest tailings disaster in the country’s history.

Between $150 million and $200 million will be spent this year, $500 million in 2020 and $150 million to $200 million in “the following years,” the company said in a filingBloomberg Terminal. The statement came as three of the world’s leading mining companies including BHP GroupBloomberg Terminal, Glencore PlcBloomberg Terminal and Anglo American PlcBloomberg Terminal released information on the safety of their dams amid greater scrutiny.