BHP and Vale, the big Brazilian iron ore miner and exporter have just restarted their Samarco pellet joint venture, five years after a tailing dam collapsed sparked a major tragedy in 2015.
The restart will be slow and it will be 2029 – 30 before Samarco returns to anywhere near full production, according to a statement from Vale on Wednesday. BHP ossued its own statement to the ASX on Thursday, Christmas Eve.
Vale said the operations had restarted at a production level of 7-8 million tonnes of pellets a year, or about 26% of Samarco’s full capacity.
Vale said that one of the three concentrators at Samarco is being brought back on line to beneficiate iron ore in Germano Complex and one of four pellet plants is being restarted to handle production.
“The integrated restart of operations occurs after an extensive commissioning tests, ensuring a safe resumption after five years. Samarco will use new processes for tailings disposal, reflecting its commitment to a sustainable restart and operational safety,” Vale said.
“Following the Corrective Operation License (LOC), received in October 2019, Samarco expects to be able to restart a second concentrator in approximately 5 years to reach a range of production of approximately 14-16 Mtpa, and the restart of the third concentrator could happen in around 9 years, when Samarco expects to reach production volume in a range of approximately 22-24 Mtpa,” Vale said in a statement.
BHP said in its statement that more than $US2.1 billion had been spent remediation and compensation plans with more than $US600 million being paid “in indemnities and emergency financial aid to approximately 325,000 people.”
BHP said “Independent tests have been carried out on Samarco’s preparations for a safe restart of operations.”
