Engineering & Mining Journal

DEC 2015

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4 E&MJ; • DECEMBER 2015 www.e-mj.com NEWS-LEADING DEVELOPMENTS A tailings dam failed at the iron ore mining Gerais state, Brazil, on November 5. Mining was halted immediately, and the company's operating license was suspended. The dam failure released huge amounts of tailings and water that spread more than 500 km downstream in the Doce River and reached the Atlantic ocean around November 20. The village of Bento Rodrigues, seven kilometers downstream from the dam, was hit hard. Most of the vil- lage's 600 residents received sufficient warning of the oncoming flood to escape to higher ground. However, as of November 19, 11 were confirmed dead, and eight were still missing. The failed dam was the middle dam of three earthen tailings dams built in sequence in a mountain valley to store tail- ings from the Samarco mine. Initial reports indicated that the lower dam had also failed; however, it was later found to be largely intact. Tailings from the failed dam had filled the storage basin behind the lower dam and then overflowed into the stream below. A Reuters report on November 17 stated that Samarco workers were racing to transport 500,000 m 3 of stone to shore up the lower dam. Samarco is an independently operated, 50:50 joint venture of BHP Billiton and Vale. The company is a fully integrated pro- ducer of iron ore pellets, with mine and con- centrator operations in Minas Gerais and three slurry pipelines that transport concen- trates about 400 km to four pelleting plants and shipping facilities at Ponta Ubu. Pellet production capacity totals 30.5 million mt/y. BHP Billiton CEO Andrew Mackenzie and President-Iron Ore Jimmy Wilson flew from Australia to Brazil and with Vale CEO Murilo Ferreira visited the Samarco mine and met with community leaders on November 11. In a joint statement, they said, "We were overcome when we saw the devastation in and around Bento Rodrigues. We cannot rebuild the lives of the families who have lost loved ones, but we redouble our commitment to Samarco to support the response effort. "As an immediate step, Vale and BHP Billiton pledge to support Samarco in cre- ating an emergency fund for rebuilding works and to help the affected families and communities. It is our intention to work with the authorities to get this fund func- tioning as soon as practicable." On November 17, Samarco signed a preliminary commitment guaranteeing allocation of $260 million to a fund to sup- port emergency measures relating to the tailings spill, including prevention, mitiga- tion, remediation, and compensation for environmental and social effects. Other costs are expected to be substan- tial and will likely mount over time. Brazil's environmental agency, the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, has fined Samarco R250 million (about $67.5 million), and a lawyer has filed a civil lawsuit demanding R10 billion ($2.7 billion) in compensation for environmental damages. At BHP Billiton's annual general meet- ing of shareholders in Perth, Western Australia, on November 19, Mackenzie stated, "Everyone at BHP Billiton has been overwhelmed with sadness and concern for the community at Bento Rodrigues. I trav- eled to the region last week, and what I wit- nessed on site and around the community was truly heart-breaking. "I want to reiterate that we are 100% committed to doing everything we can to support Samarco in the response effort and the community to recover and rebuild. "We are deeply sorry to everyone who has and will suffer from this terrible tragedy. They have my absolute determina- tion that we will fully play our part in help- ing Samarco reconstruct homes, communi- ty and spirit. We are in this for the long term and will continue to work with Vale and the people of Samarco to make sure there is a strong future for the region." Many people were evacuated from the villages, that were devastated by the Fundão dam failure. The brown waterline on the church's white walls indicates the height of the slurry as it rushed through the town. (Photo: Leo Correa AP ) Tailings from the Samarco mine's failed Fundão dam in Mariana, Minas Gerais, turns Rio Doce (Sweet River) into a murky orange color at Governador Valadares, on November 11. (Photo: Gabriela Bilo/Estadao Conteudo) Tailings Dam Failure Shuts Down Brazilian Iron Ore Producer Samarco

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