The mining disasters in Minas Gerais, Brazil´

 

The main problem in metalliferous mining is the management of mine or quarry waste with some metal contained, in addition to the eventual presence of other non-commercial minerals, such as pyrite, and the water discharged after mine operations. and plant. Iron ore mining is problematic because it requires the extraction of large amounts of rock while also producing large amounts of waste.

All this determines that today it is essential to develop an adequate technical base system (almost scientific, it could even be said) aimed at recovering and controlling the environment, a task that is perfectly possible with the current evolution of mining methodology. Generally, these sterile wastes and slags are discharged to reservoirs built in order to receive them. After a prolonged operation these reservoirs can contain millions of cubic meters of waste mixed with sludge with variable water content. If the dikes that contain this sludge with residues are not well built or maintained, downstream disasters such as those that occurred in Minas Gerais can occur.

I confess that when I made a first evaluation of the Aratirí project, I did not specifically consider the waste / sterile reservoirs. In the exploitation of iron ore in Valentines (Durazno / Lavalleja), the collapse of a dam of this type would have had disastrous consequences for the banks of the Yí river, the city of Durazno, the Palmar reservoir and possibly the city of Mercedes.

Below is a description of the collapse of the containment dam in Brumadinho and the responsibility of the company Vale (former Vale do Rio Doce).

Vale, a mining giant mired by two tragedies in Brazil

The containment barriers of the Brumadinho plant, in the state of Minas Gerais (southeast), broke unexpectedly this Friday and caused a river of lama that has left at least 9 dead and about 300 missing, according to the preliminary balance of firefighters. Brazil's Vale, the world's largest iron ore producer, has been left mired after one of its dams collapsed this Friday, leaving a trail of victims and destruction, just three years after another of its levees caused 19 deaths and the biggest environmental catastrophe in Brazil.

The containment barriers of the Brumadinho plant, in the state of Minas Gerais (southeast), broke unexpectedly this Friday and caused a river of lama that has left at least 9 dead and about 300 missing, according to the preliminary balance of firefighters.

Some 427 employees worked at the facility, but the company has yet to locate most of them after the accident at the plant, which had been shut down for three years but still contained

Among the survivors, the sentiment was perplexed today, as several employees told Efe that they did not imagine that the dikes of this dam could break and cause a tragedy like the one that occurred three years ago in the Mariana district, also in Minas. Gerais.

The mine that collapsed this Friday was responsible for 7% of the company's iron ore production, according to the company's report for the third quarter of the year, a period in which the Brazilian earned 3,074 million dollars, a 35% less compared to the same period in 2017.

After the disaster, Vale investors reacted negatively and shares fell around 8% on the New York Stock Exchange, as the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange was not trading on Friday due to a holiday in the São Paulo capital.

The company still responds in court for the greatest environmental tragedy in the history of Brazil, which occurred three years ago when the dam of one of its companies (Samarco) also broke in the state of Minas Gerais, causing the greatest environmental tragedy in the history of Brazil and a balance of 19 deaths.

In addition to the process that is still taking place in the courts and for which there is still no conviction, Samarco and its controllers (Vale and the giant BHP) reached an agreement with the Public Ministry of Minas Gerais to pay compensation to those affected by the disaster of 2015.

The tragedy of that time generated a wave of seven million cubic meters of mineral waste that destroyed the town of Bento Rodrigues, which belongs to the jurisdiction of Mariana (Minas Gerais), and caused incalculable damage along 650 kilometers in the river basin. River Doce.

The president of the world's largest iron producer, Fabio Schvartsman, apologized for what happened and stressed that Vale "is a very serious company, which made an effort to leave the dams in the best possible way, we used all the technology, especially after of Mariana ".

"Unfortunately the break happened and that has no excuse, but still I apologize to all those affected, to all Brazilian society and I want to say that we will not make any effort to face this issue in the way it has to be faced," Schvartsman stressed in a video published after the tragedy was known.

Privatized by the Brazilian government in 1997, Vale is one of the largest companies in Brazil and one of the main mining companies in the world with operations in more than 30 countries. In addition to being the world's largest iron exporter, it is a leading producer of nickel and other minerals such as potassium and copper and is considered a strategic company by the Brazilian Government, which controls a substantial part of the shares with voting rights.

Reproduced from El Nuevo Diario, Managua, Nicaragua

https://www.elnuevodiario.com.ni/internacionales/484394-minas-tragedias-desaparecidos-muertes-brasil/

An announced disaster, the Brumadinho catastrophe, in Minas Gerais Brazil

The rupture of the Brumadinho mining waste dam occurred three years after a great tragedy that occurred after the failure of the Fundão waste dam in the city of Mariana, also in the state of Minas Gerais, which had produced enormous destruction, environmental damage and death of dozens of people.

The Corrigo del Frijol dam that collapsed was built on a minor tributary of the Paraopeba River in 1976 by Ferteco Mineração (acquired by the Vale mining megacorporation in 2001). The company Vale is the owner and manager of the plant that processes iron ore in the vicinity of the city of Brumadinho and of which the Corrigo del Frijol dam was part.

This dam was used to deposit the discards of the iron ore extraction mining operations by the mining company. From the environmental point of view, it had been classified as a small structure with low risk and high potential damage.

The Paraopeba River, where the effluents from the mine flow, is in turn a tributary of the San Francisco River, which downstream at the confluence of the Paraopeba River is dammed in what is known as the Tres Marías reservoir. We remember that the San Francisco River is a very mighty river that runs from south to north parallel to the coast for 2,300 kilometers and that it was the backbone during the colonization of Brazil.

Because the dam that collapsed was in the Paraopeba river basin, this river experienced a sudden impact with millions of tons of muddy water and sludge running into its channel. This catastrophe led to an extremely intense environmental deterioration, with the death of all fish fauna, destruction of structures and direct impact on riverine populations. The main victims of the disaster were the mine employees. At the time of the breach, numerous workers were having lunch in the administrative area of ​​the mine, which was first buried (it was 1 km from the dam) and was completely covered by mud. Almost immediately the small community of Vila Ferteco, also located 1 kilometer downstream, was reached. According to the Fire Brigade, 65 people died and nearly three hundred are missing.

In the national registry of the National Mining Agency, according to a note from the Secretary of State for the Environment and Sustainable Development, it appeared that the Corrigo del Frijol dam was “duly licensed” which shows the lightness to grant environmental authorizations both at the federal and state level.

In December 2018, Vale obtained this license to reuse the rejects disposed of at the dam (about 11.7 million cubic meters) and to close its activities. The dam had received no rejections since 2014 and, according to the company, was undergoing biweekly field inspections. According to the Mining Institute of Water Management (Igam) and the National Mining Agency (ANM), the dam that broke had been considered to have a great polluting potential with high potential associated damage, with potential loss of human life and impacts. economic, social and environmental. In any case, the license was granted with the results that are known.

Description of the mine

The Corriente del Frijol Mine, where one of the 7 dams that broke in Brumadinho is located, produced 8.5 million tons of iron ore in 2018, which is equivalent to 2% of the company's iron ore production. mining Ok. The mine is part of the Paraopeba Complex, which in 2018 production was equivalent to 27.3 million tons, corresponding to approximately 7% of Vale's production. The complex is made up of 13 structures used for waste disposal, sediment retention, flow regulation and water capture. In addition to the dams, the Corriente del Frijol Mine had several administrative and support structures, such as an administrative center, a dining room and maintenance workshops, as well as a cargo terminal and a small railway network to drain iron ore.

The Pataxó village, which was one of the towns that had to be evacuated after the rupture, and 25 families living in the Nao Xohã village were taken to the highest part of the municipality of São Joaquim de Bicas, the administrative area where the community is located. . Brumadinho, São Joaquín de Bicas and Mário Campos form the group of cities cut by the Paraopeba River.

Several Pataxó communities live in the area that were not affected by the catastrophe. According to Chief Hayyó Pataxó, the water of the Paraopeba River began to undergo changes around 4 in the morning. "The water was clear yesterday, but today it is dark red." It already has a lot of dead fish, floating, with its mouth out asking for help. "[The Pataxos promoted rituals to thank the fact that they had not been reached by the mud. and they apologized to nature for what happened. [...] An inn located in Brumadinho, the Pousada Fazenda Nova Estancia, ceased to exist and was completely destroyed when it was hit by the dam's mud. There were 35 people in the place , between guests and function