ESG

Two injured in Brazil dam burst

Two workers were taken to hospital but there were no fatalities when a tailings dam burst at a gold mine on Tuesday in Brazil’s Mato Grosso state, the National Mining Agency (ANM) said.

Staff reporter
 ANM indicated the location of the TB01 dam in Mato Grosso on Google Maps

ANM indicated the location of the TB01 dam in Mato Grosso on Google Maps

In a translated statement, ANM said the 15m high dam had ruptured, with material spreading up to 2km.

It said regular inspections had not reported any anomalies in the past year and a statement of condition of stability had been signed by the technical manager, authorised by the Regional Council of Engineering and Architecture (CREA/MT), and by the owner of the company on September 25.

ANM said the burst had knocked down one of the high-voltage power poles which served the region and the power distributor had shut down the network to avoid other accidents.

"At this time, a team of the company is performing the first operations and building a containment to prevent the tailings from advancing through an even greater area," ANM said.

ANM was inspecting the area to determine measures and verify if there were other risks.

The dam was registered under the name of an individual wildcat miner rather than in the name of a mining company, Reuters reported.

The burst comes as Brazil's dams are under increasing scrutiny following the fatal tailings dam collapse at Vale's Brumadinho operations in January, which killed about 250 people with 21 still missing.

Vale this week said 82 of its tailings dams had been issued positive Stability Condition Declarations (DCEs) but Capim Branco had been downgraded to join 16 other structures with negative DCEs.
 
Police last month formally accused seven individuals from Vale and six from German safety inspector TÜV SÜD, for covering up structural dangers at the Brumadinho dam during safety audits only months before it ruptured.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the farming sector, brought to you by the Kondinin team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the farming sector, brought to you by the Kondinin team.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Investor Sentiment Report 2024

Survey revealing the plans, priorities, and preferences of 120+ mining investors and their expectations for the sector in 2024.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Mining Equities Report 2023

Access an exclusive, inside look on the quarterly mining IPOs and secondary raisings data and mining equities performance tables with an annual Stock Exchange Comparisons supplement.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence World Risk Report 2023 (feat. MineHutte ratings)

A detailed analysis of mining investment risks across 121 jurisdictions globally, built on 11 ‘hard risk’ metrics and an industrywide survey.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Global Leadership Report 2023: Social licence

Gain insights into social licence trends and best practices from interviews with 20+ top mining company executives and an industrywide survey.