For the first time, the Brazilian miner Vale has reached the level of “absolute risk-free” with a tailings dam that had previously reached the level of “high emergency” being decommissioned.
The B3/B4 dam, located in Nova Lima, in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, was considered as “high emergency” grade in 2019, when more than 100 families had to leave their homes as precaution.
According to Alexandre Pereira, Vale’s VP for executive projects, due to the dangerous conditions of the dam, the equipment used in the decommissioning were remotely operated from an operations center located 15 km from the dam, allowing for the removal of an estimated 3.3 million cubic meters of rejects.
Vale is eliminating all its tailings dams built under the upstream technology since the collapse of the Brumadinho dam in 2019.
The cost for the decommissioning of the B3/B4 dam, concluded in May, is estimated at $16 million.