Another Vale dam on the brink of collapse, says auditor
Brazilians have been forced to evacuate their homes after independent auditors found that another dam run by iron miner Vale is on the brink of collapse.
The mining waste dam in the city of Barao de Cocais, was declared unsafe just two months after a similar dam in the same state burst, killing hundreds.
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The company has raised the risk level to three, the highest grade, meaning that “a rupture is imminent or already happening,” the Associated Press reported.
Vale said it had activated a warning siren after auditors found that the dam was “at imminent risk of rupture.”
It had already evacuated people in the immediate area in the weeks following the first dam collapse, however this weekend it expanded the evacuation zone.
The dam is one of those scheduled for decommissioning after the Brazilian government banned the use of so-called upstream tailings dams.
Tomorrow marks two months since the initial collapse at the Brumadinho mine in Minas Gerais state.
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Over 300 people are either dead or missing after the dam burst, releasing a slurry of mining waste over local communities and Vale workers.
Iron prices have soared since the disaster, while the international mining community has responded by calling for increased safety standards.