Brumadinho

On January 25^th, 2019, Dam I, at the "Córrego do Feijão" mine, in Brumadinho (MG), collapsed. Since the first hours after the dam breach, Vale has been providing support to those affected and their families. Several actions have been carried out in the social, environmental, infrastructure and safety areas. We continue to invest in initiatives towards the development of sustainable mining, reducing impacts and acting with society, transparently, to mitigate even more the risks associated with our operations.

About the dam:

Dam I of the Córrego do Feijão mine received the disposal of iron ore tailings from Vale’s production in Brumadinho (MG). The dam was inactive (it was no longer receiving tailings), there was no lake present and no other operational activity was in progress. At that time, the dam’s de-characterization project was under development.

The dam was built in 1976 by Ferteco Mineração (a company acquired by Vale on April 27, 2001) using the upstream heightening method. The dam height was 86 meters and its crest length was 720 meters. The tailings occupied an area of 249.5 thousand square meters and the disposed volume was 11.7 million cubic meters.

About the investigations:

Expert Panel

On December 12th, 2019, the Expert Panel, retained by Vale’s external legal counsel to assess the technical causes of the failure of Dam I at the Córrego do Feijão mine, in Brumadinho, released its report. The Expert Panel, whose composition was announced on February 8th, 2019, was instructed to utilize its professional expertise and judgment to investigate and report on the technical causes for the failure of the dam. The Expert Panel's Report, ten accompanying appendices and a short explanatory video are available at  http://www.b1technicalinvestigation.com/.

Report from the Investigation Committee (CIAE-A)

Announced on January 27th, 2019, the CIAE-A was constituted by Vale’s Board of Directors, under the coordination of the former minister Ellen Gracie, dedicated to investigating the causes and responsibilities of the Dam I rupture, at the Córrego de Feijão mine, in Brumadinho.
 
The Committee met 49 times last year, and has, since its establishment, carried out multiple verification activities - such as interviews with key individuals to understand the event, document review, visits to the site of the rupture, among others. The Committee also engaged with the authorities responsible for other related investigations and monitored the work of the various established parliamentary committees, in order to obtain relevant information from multiple sources. The work of the Committee for Investigation was also directly monitored by the Board of Directors and by Vale’s Fiscal Council, through periodic reports. For any eventuality, the independence of the Committee – which even has its own budget allocation — is safeguarded.

The result of the work was made available through a report to the Board of Directors and its summary was disclosed to the market through the press to ensure accountability to society. This report contains recommendations of a technical and governance nature. Most of the recommendations refer to themes that are already being addressed by Vale through several initiatives to enhance its internal controls. The executive summary of the Report is available here.

Vale defined the timeline for actions to comply with the recommendations brought by the CIAE-A report. The implementation schedule foresees that 95% of these actions will be completed by the end of 2020 and 100% will be completed by December 2022.

To access the timeline, click here.

Full Reparation Program

Special Office for Reparation and Development:

Mission

To fully repair the damage caused to people and territories, with social engagement and with transparency, being a vector of improvement of Vale's policies and processes.

Vision

To repair, by 2025, all the damage caused to people and territories, considering the environmental, social and economic aspects, with positive legacies, agreed with and appropriated by these territories.

Objectives

Commit to the construction of agreements through dialogue to ensure full reparation to all the affected people and territories;
Repair damage to those affected in a dignified and respectful manner;
Repair the environmental damage caused to the affected territories;
Contribute to the improvement of living conditions and well-being in the affected territories;
Advance with the economic sustainability of the affected territories;
Influence the improvement of Vale's internal policies and processes;
Influence the mining industry, as a whole, to adopt safer processes and practices.

The reparation and development plan for Brumadinho and the municipalities in the Paraopeba Basin is based on three pillars:

1 - Environmental

Biotic environment

Protection of the affected biomes with a focus on the protection of fauna and flora, environmental management, monitoring, recovery and conservancy.

Physical environment

Containment, removal and management of the tailings from the dam collapse, environmental management, monitoring, recovery and conservancy.

Support the de-characterization of structures

Support the business with the de-characterization of structures in the region.

2 - Infrastructure and Institutional Management

Architecture and urbanism

Diverse interventions to improve the urban conditions.

Territorial reframing

Strengthen the feeling of belonging and of identification of the affected communities.

Infrastructure and sanitation

Investments in public and road infrastructure, sanitation, water security and support to the Fire Department.

3- Socioeconomic

Humanitarian assistance and compensation

Ensure respect to human rights, humanitarian assistance, access to health care and compensations.

Education

Investments and costing of programs and infrastructure for education.

Health and well-being

Improvement of basic and preventive healthcare and capacity building in health.

Employment and income

Programs for economic recovery of the affected regions, focusing on capacity building, job creation, income generation and incentives to tourism.

Farming

Emergency water supply and fostering agricultural activities.

Land

Land regularization, to move forward with works and indemnifications.

Relations with Communities

Relationship building and engagement with the affected communities.

Sustainable Development

Support to activities driven to the well-being and by the sustainable development principles.

Culture

Support to the development of cultural tourism in the region.

Program of Full Support for the Affected People

Program of support and assistance in the application of resources received as compensation by the affected people and with the productive recovery.

Reparation Data

Results of the searches:

395 people located

270 deceased victims

11 missing persons

Economic and non-economic compensation:

+106,000 beneficiaries of emergency compensation, with over R$ 1.2 billion already paid in total

+4,866 civil agreements for material and moral compensation, signed with individuals or groups, with over 3,150 beneficiaries and over R$ 843 million paid

624 labour agreements had been entered into, including 1,591 family members of 244 workers, out of a total of 250 deceased. The total value of the agreements entered into until the beginning of April 2020 was approximately BRL 1 billion.

9 indemnity registration stations available in the affected municipalities

Figures updated in April, 2020.

Immediate support to victims and families:

7 assistance posts for families, available in Brumadinho and Belo Horizonte

10 hospitals and health units mobilized to assist those affected

+18,000 medical and psychological consultations

185,000 pharmacy items acquired and made available

R$ 30 million driven to social and health care of the communities

R$ 6.5 million of equipment for the local forensic medicine facility (Instituto Médico Legal de Belo Horizonte)

+500 million litres of water supplied to the population

150 Pataxós indigenous people provided with emergency payments and healthcare support

270 people received the R$ 100-thousand donation

100 people received the R$ 50-thousand donation

95 people received the R$ 15-thousand donation

Support to the municipalities:

R$ 80 million in financial support to the municipality of Brumadinho

R$ 258,7 million in financial contributions to 10 municipalities with halted mining operations

R$ 107 million in financial compensation to the Government of the State of Minas Gerais for the decrease in tax revenue

Support to public entities in the search and rescue efforts:

R$ 20 million donated to the State Fire Department

R$ 5 million donated to the State Civil Defence

R$ 4 million donated to the State Military Police

Support to the rescue of fauna:

9,800 animals rescued

48,800 veterinary consultations

2 hospital and animal shelter

115 animals adopted in 3 adoption fairs

724 professionals including veterinarians, biologists, technicians and field staff involved in the rescue of local fauna

+500 animals under Vale's care

Social

Assistance to the affected people and families

Vale offers assistance to the affected families at the assistance posts, making available to them multiple professionals, including doctors, social workers and psychologists. More information.

Missing persons

Vale periodically updates the list of missing persons, as soon as they are located. More information.

Deceased victims

Vale periodically updates the list of deceased victims identified so far by the Instituto Medico Legal (IML). More information.

Economic and non-economic compensation

Emergency indemnifications: term of preliminary agreement signed in February 2019 with the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Federal Public Defender's Office, the Public Prosecutor's Office of the State of Minas Gerais, the Public Defender's Office of the State of Minas Gerais, the Federal Attorney General’s Office and the Attorney General's Office of the State of Minas. Under the agreement, starting on January 25, 2019, Vale will make monthly emergency compensation payments during one year to those residing in Brumadinho or up to one kilometre from the Paraopeba River banks, between Brumadinho and the Retiro Baixo Power Plant, in the city of Pompéu, comprising people in 17 municipalities. Over 106,000 beneficiaries received the emergency compensation as of November 2019, with over R$ 1.1 billion already paid. On November 28th, 2019, a new agreement extended the payment of emergency aid for 10 additional months, with different eligibility criteria. Until January 2020, over R$ 1.2 billion were paid for emergency indemnifications. Up to April 2020, on the date of closing this report, the payment of emergency aid relating to this TAP totaled BRL 1,292 million.

Who is this for and what are the conditions?

Until January 24, 2020: Citizens who were residents of Brumadinho or up to one kilometer from the Paraopeba River banks, between Brumadinho and the Retiro Baixo Power Plant, in the city of Pompéu, comprising people in 17 municipalities by the moment the agreement was closed. Emergency aid: one minimum wage for each adult, 50% of the monthly minimum wage for each teenager and 25% of the monthly minimum wage for each child, for a period of 12 months (January to December 2019, retroactively).
From January 25, 2020: The emergency aid will be fully provided to those people who have been proven to reside in the communities of Córrego do Feijão, Parque da Cachoeira, Alberto Flores, Cantagalo, Pires and along the Córrego Ferro-Carvão banks on the date of the dam breach, as well as those people who are currently taking part in the following support programs developed by Vale: housing, social assistance, agricultural assistance and assistance to local producers. It is estimated that between 10,000 and 15,000 people will continue to receive the full payment of emergency aid. Others who are not included in the above-mentioned criteria and who currently receive the full payment of emergency aid agreed in February 2019, estimated between 93,000 to 98,000 beneficiaries, will receive 50% of the emergency payment for 10 months starting on January 25^th, 2020.

Individual Indemnification Program: term of commitment entered into with the Public Defender's Office of the State of Minas Gerais (DPMG). It sets general conditions for indemnification of material and moral damages, aiming at a quick and fair solution for individual damages. By April 2020, at least 4,866 out-of-court civil settlements had been signed, of which 4,105 have been ratified and, of these, 62 are in payment and 4,043 have already been paid, totaling approximately BRL 843 million.

Who is this for?
Father/mother, spouse/life partner, sons/daughters, brothers/sisters and other people with family relations with the deceased victims of the dam rupture in Brumadinho;

What are the conditions and amounts?

Father/mother, spouse/life partner, sons/daughters of deceased victims: moral damages – R$ 500,000;
Brothers/sisters of the deceased: moral damages - R$ 150,000;
Other damages are treated on a case to case basis, respecting the general conditions of the term of commitment.

Labour indemnification: in July 2019, Vale and the Public Prosecutor's Office of the State of Minas Gerais, with the participation of unions, entered into an agreement with the general conditions for labour indemnifications. Families of workers deceased in consequence of the dam collapse can opt for receiving compensation, including a life insurance plan for spouses, partners and children. In August 2019, Vale deposited the amount of R$ 400 million agreed in court as collective moral damages. By the first week of April 2020, 624 agreements had been entered into, including 1,591 family members of 244 workers, out of a total of 250 deceased. The total value of the agreements entered into until the beginning of April 2020 was approximately BRL 1 billion.

Who is this for?
Father/mother, spouse/life partner, sons/daughters, brothers/sisters of the deceased workers (Vale employees or outsourced workers).

What are the conditions and amounts?

Spouse/marriage partner, sons/daughters:

Moral damage – R$500,000
Additional insurance for work accident – R$ 200,000
Material damage – minimum guaranteed amount of R$ 800,000
Lifetime health insurance for spouse/partner and children up to 25 years old
Childcare allowance – R$ 920/month for children up to 3 years old
Education allowance – R$ 998 for children between 3 and 25 years old

Parents

Moral damage – R$500,000
Additional insurance for work accident – R$ 200,000
Psychological / psychiatric assistance

Brothers/sisters:

Moral damage – R$150,000

Guidance to receive compensation: The people affected by the Dam I collapse at the Córrego do Feijão mine in Brumadinho can find information related to compensation here.

As of November 2019, another 22 legal agreements for economic and non-economic compensation have been entered into local, state and federal entities to establish a stable legal framework for reparation. The main fronts covered are:

Recovery of the socioeconomic capacity:

Vale’s Program of Full Support for the Affected People encompasses six fronts of technical and social assistance. The program aims to support the affected people, mainly those who already received individual indemnifications, while they are adapting to a new reality. The participation in this program is voluntary. Through the program, Vale offers technical assistance and advisory on:

Social projects supported by Vale

Novo Rumo (New Course, in English): The Novo Rumo Project is conducted in partnership with the Kairós Institute. After the collapse, it was strengthened to support the residents of Córrego do Feijão with restoring self-esteem. Currently, over 60 residents have participated in activities that enhance local vocations, such as productive backyards, community gardens and handicrafts;
Comfio: The Comfio Social Workshop is also held in partnership with the Kairós Institute. In handicraft workshops, residents are welcomed and share experiences and feelings, working on the notion of belonging and rebuilding self-esteem. While creating plots and shapes, the participants build confidence in the collective and its productive potential;
Semeando Esperança (Sowing Hope, in English): The “Semeando Esperança” Project is sponsored by the Vale Foundation, in partnership with the Matizes Dumont Institute, at the local “Estação do Conhecimento". Women who reside in Brumadinho and various communities in the region take part in embroidery workshops, which stimulate creativity, strengthen affective bonds and help with the mourning;
Batucabrum: The Batucabrum Project is currently serving more children, it has been extended to the Cantagalo community, and now adults can also participate in choral singing and guitar lessons. The activities take place outside school hours and help about 80 children and young people to cope with the loss and to transform the experienced reality.

Alliance for Brumadinho

We have joined the program “Aliança por Brumadinho” [Alliance for Brumadinho] launched by the Brazilian Federal Government, which aims to leave a legacy for the region. We have also moved forward with the Preliminary Agreements for compensation with the authorities. For more information on the initiatives conducted by the partner entities, visit the Program’s Monitoring Dashboard (Portuguese only).

Environmental

Reparation Data

724 professionals involved in fauna recovery (veterinarians, biologists, zoo technicians and professionals from various environmental areas)

48,800 animals involved in the rescue operations

+610 people attended pet adoption fairs provided by Vale

115 animals were adopted

90 monitoring points of water quality between the Paraopeba River and the mouth of the São Francisco River

+ 4.0 million analyses of water, soil, tailings and sediment

2,000 native trees were planted

The work of environmental recovery and fauna protection is continually advancing and involves entities specialized in analysis, water treatment and animal care.

Paraopeba River

Vale maintains daily monitoring points of the water quality between the Paraopeba River and the mouth of the São Francisco River. There are points installed along: the Ferro-Carvão stream; the Paraopeba and São Francisco rivers up to their mouth, in the Atlantic Ocean; in the reservoirs of the Retiro Baixo and Três Marias plants; as well as the main tributaries of the Paraopeba River. Turbidity analyses are also performed 24 hours a day, in points of the river, by means of automatic probes. Today, it is already possible to verify that the water, in some points of the Paraopeba River, begins to return to its original condition, observed before the rupture, after the beginning of the drought period.

River Water Treatment Plant

The water treated at the plant arrives at around 6,300 NTU (Nephelometric Turbidity Unit) and returns to the Paraopeba River with rates below 29 NTUs on average. The National Environmental Council’s (CONAMA) turbidity standards are up to 100 NTU.

Animal care

Vale has held Dog and Cat Adoption Fairs, promoting responsible adoptions, succeeding in finding new homes for the animals that are now kept at the Fauna Farm Shelter or promoting reunions with their former owners. In addition to the adoption fair, Vale will be responsible for monitoring the adopted animals for 6 months. This is an agreement entered into with the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the State of Minas Gerais.

Service channel for fauna-related issues: 0800 031 0831

Emergency works

Vale continues to carry out different emergency works for environmental recovery, containment and removal of tailings, focusing on minimizing the impacts caused.

Containment structures and removal of tailings

The construction and installation of these structures reduces the sediment flow to the Paraopeba River, besides contributing to the cleaning of the river and the Ferro-Carvão stream.

Water treatment

The works focus on the cleaning and returning of treated water to the Ferro-Carvão stream and the Paraopeba River.

Dredging part of the area of the Paraopeba River

Dredging removes the accumulated tailings in the silted region of the Paraopeba River. The dredging is planned to continue until 2020, starting at the confluence of the Ribeirão Ferro-Carvão stream with the Paraopeba River and continuing about 2 km downstream from this point. In this section, it is estimated that the material deposited, leaked from Dam B1 ranges between 300,000 and 350,000 cubic meters.

Water supply system in the Belo Horizonte Metropolitan Region

Vale will invest approximately R$ 450 million in infrastructure works for the Belo Horizonte Metropolitan Region water supply system. Under the agreement between the company and the Public Prosecutor's Office of Minas Gerais State, with the participation of COPASA, Minas Gerais State and the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office, the following investments will be made:

Construction of a new water catchment system in the Paraopeba river, upstream of the confluence of the river with the Ferro-Carvão stream, in Brumadinho;
Performance of preventive actions in the water catchment of the Velhas river;
Hiring of an external audit company to analyze the projects and to monitor the volume of water stored in the reservoirs of the Belo Horizonte Metropolitan Region.

Water supply system in Pará de Minas

Vale has entered into a Term of Commitment for the execution of works that guarantee the water supply of Pará de Minas. With this, a new water catchment system was built at the confluence of the Moreira and Cova Danta streams (interconnecting with the concessionaire's existing pipeline), and the drilling of new artesian wells and the maintenance of existing ones were carried out. In addition, the construction of a new pipeline is in progress, approximately 50 km long and with a flow rate of 284 liters per second, for water catchment in the Pará River.

Emergency works
Reparation Data:

R$ 227,34 million invested in the execution of emergency works for tailings handling

R$ 450 million in works in water catchment systems to supply the Belo Horizonte Metropolitan Region

Safety

De-characterization of upstream dams

Vale has initiated actions to the de-characterization of its upstream dams. Through this process, the company will eliminate the structures with the same method of heightening of the dam that ruptured in Brumadinho. These structures will therefore no longer pose a risk to people.

Actions under implementation in the dams

Before removing the dam and the tailings, measures are required to improve the safety factor of the structures. In this regard, the following actions are underway:

Lowering of the surface water level of the reservoirs;
Well drilling to remove the underground water contribution;
Construction of channels to divert contributions, such as rainwater.

Emergency containments in progress

Vale is also building containment structures near its upstream dams that have reached a maximum emergency level. The purpose of these emergency works is to increase the safety in the Self-Saving Zones. The structures will be able to retain all the material deposited in the dams in an extreme scenario of rupture.

Total focus on people’s safety

The works are carried out with the utmost care to protect the workers. Actions include evacuation plans, emergency training, air rescue simulations, 24-hour monitoring of the teams and tracking devices used by all the workers accessing risk areas.

Reparation Data

R$ 7.1 billion provisioned for the de-characterization of structures, of which about R$ 400 million will be spent in 2019

+4,500 workers at peak times

16 large companies hired to carry out works

R$ 1.8 billion will be invested in the total of emergency works

Our management

Special Office for Reparation and Development

With the mission of ensuring focus on the structuring actions that involve the reparation of the damage caused and the socioeconomic and environmental restoration of Brumadinho and impacted municipalities, we have created the Special Office of Reparation and Development. The governance establishes direct reporting to the CEO and special weekly attendance at Executive Board meetings, to ensure the speed and flexibility needed for the reparation actions.

Safety and Operational Excellence Executive Office

Created in June 2019, aligned with Vale's new strategic pillars of safety and operational excellence, with the new pact with society and also with the commitment to making Vale one of the safest and most reliable mining companies in the world.

Dam Safety Advisory Independent Committee (CIAESB, in Portuguese)

On February 15, 2019, Vale's Board of Directors resolved to create the Dam Safety Advisory Independent Committee (CIAE for Dam Safety) to advise it on issues related to the diagnosis of safety conditions, management and mitigation of risks related to Vale's dams and dikes.

Reparation Report

The Reparation Report presents Vale's actions to minimize the impact caused by the B1 dam breach, showing the evolution of Vale's works in Brumadinho and along the Paraopeba River. We know there is a lot to do. We will keep doing it and reporting back to society.

Click here to access the latest Reparation Report