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Dams are structures designed by engineers and used as a reservoir for the containment and accumulation of liquid substances or mixtures of liquids and solids from ore processing.
Vale has 133 iron ore dams in Brazil and 80% of these are in the state of Minas Gerais
When a dam is built, it is for the purpose to contain tailings. This is the starter dam. As more tailings are deposited, new layers are added to the starter dam (this is called the upstream construction method). There are different types of construction methods. The main ones used by Vale are: the downstream (traditional) and the upstream construction methods.
The downstream shell is built on compacted soil, regardless of the type of tailings used. It is built in the direction of the water flow (downstream).
The dam body is constructed using the deposited tailings. It is built in the opposite direction of the water flow (upstream). The dam needs thick tailings so that the shell can be constructed.
The run of mine (ROM) processing can be made through two different methods: wet and dry. The muddy sludge produced by the mine after the wet ore processing is called tailings. This residue is disposed of in dams.
Vale has presented to Brazilian authorities a plan to speed up the decommissioning of all dams built using the upstream construction method. It means that this type of dam will all be declassified as a tailings dams and reintegrated into the environment. Today, Vale has 10 dams built using his method and the immediate action plan consists of decommissioning all these inactive dams.
The decommissioning projects will be submitted to the relevant agencies for authorization within 45 days.
As soon as authorizations are issued, Vale will begin mobilizing companies and, within 60 days, the site operations, near the dams, built using the upstream method, will be suspended until the decommissioning is concluded. This will expedite the process.
Decommissioning dams, adopting additional protective measures within the communities, together with the governments, until dams are reintegrated into the terrain and to the environment.
Decommissioning is the process of permanently stopping the use of a dam, i.e., the structure does not have any features of a dam anymore and is reintegrated to the terrain and the environment.
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