Vale is eyeing a mid- to late-2017 restart for its JV owned pellets producer Samarco, the company said this week at a conference with analysts and investors in the city of Belo Horizonte, in the state of Minas Gerais.
According to Vale, Samarco could resume operations by either the end of H1 2017 or the end of the year. “Everything relies on the [company’s] licensing [process],” said Rogerio Nogueira, controlling and investor relations director at Vale.
In a presentation to analysts, Vale clearly stated that the restart of the company’s operations in 2016 is “highly improbable.”
Vale added that it has made a BRL 3.7 billion provision to aid Samarco.
Vale expects to contribute some BRL 470 million in H2 2016 to help Samarco fund its expenses, following an agreement with Brazil’s government to cleanup the affected areas near the dam. The amount is part of Vale’s expected BRL 3.7 billion total provision to aid its JV owned pellets producer.
Vale also added that it plans to grant Samarco a credit line of up to BRL 313 million to support its operations.
1 USD = BRL 3.13 (August 10)