Brazil Fines Vale $16.9 Million for Lack of Details on Dam Tied to Deadly Collapse

Vale fined $16.9 million by Brazilian agency for mine disaster
Brazil’s decision cites non-involvement of top management

Residents survey damage after a Vale SA dam burst in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, on Jan. 26, 2019. — Residents survey damage after a Vale SA dam burst in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, on Jan. 26, 2019.
Photographer: Victor Moriyama/Bloomberg

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By Mariana Durao

August 15, 2022 at 8:02 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Vale SA was fined 86.3 million real ($16.9 million) for not giving Brazil’s mining regulator accurate information on the conditions at a tailings dam that collapsed three years ago, killing 270 people in the deadliest mining disaster in the country’s history.

Vale received a decision from Brazil’s Office of the Comptroller General that indicated the Brazilian miner “failed to present reliable information” to the National Mining Agency on its Dam 1 in Brumadinho, in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, the company said Monday in a statement. Vale said it disagrees with the decision and will submit a request for reconsideration within 10 days.