| Safety “The legacy of the Brumadinho disaster has to lead


to a completely reformed mining sector,” Matthews continued. “We now have a Global Industry Standard where previously one did not exist, and investors are working intensively with the UN, industry and other stakeholders to establish the first independent global institute to verify the standard is being applied at individual mine sites.” To further support the work of the Mining and


Tailings Safety Initiative, it was announced that John Howchin, formerly the Secretary General of the Council of Ethics of the Swedish AP Funds, would become the Global Ambassador for the Initiative to work with investors, mining companies and wider stakeholders in the creation of the independent Global Tailings Management Institute.


“Brumadinho should never have happened,” Howchin said. “Mining companies, regulators, investors and governments carry the responsibility that we secure existing dams, and that any future expansion of mining happens only with the highest best practice standards. Establishing the independent Global Tailings Management Institute gives us that possibility and I am proud to be able to serve as its ambassador to work with investors to drive continued action on tailings dams.”


Industry standard The Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management


was developed with investors, led by the Church of England Pensions Board and the Council on Ethics of the Swedish AP Funds representing the Principles for Responsible Investment, the International Council on Mining & Metals and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). At an investor roundtable held on the eve of the recent anniversary, UNEP and the Church of England Pensions Board announced that an independent Global Tailings Management Institute will become operational in 2022 to support implementation of the standard and play a key role in overseeing independent audits of company compliance, including at mine sites. Additionally, a separate multi-stakeholder independent advisory panel on tailings dam disclosures, chaired by Professor Elaine Baker from the University of Sydney and Dr Stephen Barrie of the Church of England Pensions Board, announced a six-week consultation on a new disclosure standard for the sector that aligns to the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management. It is intended that this would form the basis for a Global Tailings Portal to track the locations of the world’s tailings dams and will be integrated into the Global Institute when it becomes operational. In addition, work guided by a group of experts is looking at the feasibility of an independent global live monitoring hub that can track the highest risk tailings facilities including using satellite monitoring. This group is expected to report on its findings by the end of the second quarter of 2022.


Update on Brumadinho Vale says that it continues to fulfil its reparation


obligations and support the communities and people affected by the B1 tailings dam failure in Brumadinho. Since 2019, it has spent R$20 billion on individual compensation, environmental recovery, urban infrastructure, and health and professional training amongst others.


www.waterpowermagazine.com | March 2022 | 27


Marcelo Klein, Special Director of Reparation and Development at Vale, said. “Our structuring actions have evolved in all territories. We recognise, however, that dissatisfactions persist, and we seek to learn from them. We remain vigilant to the needs of residents and are committed to our reparation commitments, taking care of those affected, improving local infrastructure, reactivating the economy, restoring nature, valuing tourism and respecting the memory of the victims.” The first step towards environmental recovery has been the removal of the tailings in Brumadinho. Approximately 9Mm3


were released from the B1 dam


and almost 50% have already been handled and disposed of in the Córrego do Feijão mine pit. In all, around 297 hectares of land were impacted by the failure, of which 140 are forested. Twenty- three hectares directly affected by the collapse and emergency works have been reforested, with the planting of approximately 30,000 seedlings of native species in the region. The forecast for 2022 is that another 24 hectares will be in the recovery process, with the planting of 15,000 seedlings of tree species native to the region and implementation of small-sized vegetation cover. Bioengineering techniques will also be used to recover the soil and control erosion, an important step to effectively restore the ecological balance of the region. In addition, Vale claims that, for the first time in the world, DNA will be rescued from native trees in a partnership with the Federal University of Viçosa. There are currently 70 monitoring points on the Paraopeba River. More than 38,000 samples have been collected, generating around 5.6 million results on water, soil, tailings and sediment analysis. Automatic monitoring is also carried out through 11 telemetric stations which allows for hourly remote measurement, with data transmission via satellite to increase information efficiency. Vale has also supported the strengthening of water security for the population of the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte, which collects water from the basins of the Velhas and Paraopeba rivers. Five underground wells have already been reactivated in addition to the construction of four reservoirs for essential customers in the region, such as the hospitals. Other completed work includes the pipeline that interconnects the distribution systems of the Paraopeba River and the Velhas River basin and enables the transfer of water between them. f


Above: Mining company Vale says it continues to support the communities and people affected by the tailings dam failure in Brumadinho and has made a commitment to be 100% compliant with the Global Industry Standard for Tailings Management.


Below: Dike 4 of the Pontal System, in Itabira, Minas Gerais, Brazil is one of five upstream tailings structures planned to be eliminated in 2022 (Photo courtesy of Vale)


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