Mining Companies in Brazil to Strengthen Safety Rules for Tailings Dams

Written by Paulo Nogueira

Published on 21/12/2020 at 06:31

Updated on 21/12/2020 at 07:00

Esforços de reconstrução da barragem de rejeitos de Fundão da Samarco em 2017. (Imagem cortesia da BHP)

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The Objective Is To Reduce Or Even Avoid Accidents Similar To Those Involving The Mining Giants Vale And Samarco In The Past

The National Mining Agency (ANM) announced that it would hold a public hearing on the new guidelines to strengthen the rules for safety and inspection of mining dams, mainly in the way companies manage tailings.

According to the agency, the suggestions obtained during the process, which is expected to last 45 days, will be used to outline the new standards.

Scrutiny around the safety of tailings dams has dramatically increased in the past two years, following the collapse of the dam at Brumadinho, Vale (NYSE: VALE) , which killed 270 people. It also triggered a global investigation into the status of 726 tailings dams.

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Global Efforts In The Mining Industry

After the accident, the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), an industry group based in London that represents 27 large mining companies, formed an independent panel of experts to develop global standards for tailings facilities.

The Church of England, which invests in mining companies through its pensions for retired clergy, along with its partners, launched a global inquiry in April 2019 into the waste storage systems of over 700 resource companies.

It now calls on companies to regularly disclose data about tailings dams.

The Responsible Mining Foundation (RMF), based in Switzerland, published a study in early April of this year showing that investor-led action resulted in greater transparency regarding the status of these facilities.

However, the vast majority of mining companies still need to demonstrate that they are reviewing how they effectively manage risks related to tailings.

Mining Companies in Brazil to Strengthen Safety Rules for Tailings Dams

The Objective Is To Reduce Or Even Avoid Accidents Similar To Those Involving The Mining Giants Vale And Samarco In The Past

Global Efforts In The Mining Industry

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Mining Companies in Brazil to Strengthen Safety Rules for Tailings Dams

The Objective Is To Reduce Or Even Avoid Accidents Similar To Those Involving The Mining Giants Vale And Samarco In The Past

Global Efforts In The Mining Industry

Mother and daughter build a 70 m² house with more than 8,000 discarded glass bottles and impress with their creativity; known as the Casa de Sal, the property is located on Itamaracá Island, in Pernambuco.

The river that “dies” in the desert never reaches the sea and yet gives life to one of Africa’s largest natural refuges in a truly impressive way.

He transformed an abandoned plastic water tank into an underground house in the “hobbit hole” style, using only repurposed pallet wood, without heavy machinery or expensive labor.

Libya built over 4,000 kilometers of underground pipelines to bring water from the Sahara to coastal cities in a project that the government itself called the Eighth Wonder of the World.

Desert sand, previously discarded for being too smooth for concrete, becomes an ecological brick in the United Arab Emirates, dispensing with Portland cement, curing at room temperature, and attempting to transform dunes useless for construction into raw material for a new arid engineering.

Toyota launches “family hybrid van” with 7 or 8 seats, 1.8 hybrid engine, fuel consumption of up to 23.8 km/l, and a price equivalent to about R$ 104,000 without taxes, below the Tiggo 8 Pro Plug-in Hybrid sold in Brazil: meet the Noah Hybrid 2026 in Japan.

China transforms desert-devastated area into the world’s largest artificial forest, planting trees for 60 years, blocking sand that reached Beijing, and creating a “green lung” of 92,000 hectares in a region once considered lost.

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Hilux owners are having headaches, and Toyota is betting on a R$ 2,500 solution with a detail of just 5 mm that promises to reduce vibrations to 1/10 and change the pickup’s behavior on the road.

China’s logistical rise raises an alert for Brazilian infrastructure: AI-driven ports handle 47 million TEU, Beijing invests R$ 285 billion in Africa and threatens up to US$ 60 billion of Brazilian agribusiness while Santos faces historical bottlenecks.

NASA focuses on astronaut feces to feed plants on the Moon with a system of 3 bioreactors capable of recycling waste, recovering water, and extending space missions after achieving 98% reuse on the ISS.

Chile raises military alert and bets on a new national aircraft to rival the Super Tucano; the project brings together the Navy, Air Force, and ENAER, leveraging technologies from the T-40 Newen and experience accumulated from more than 140 aircraft produced.