The regulations that govern the Brazilian mining industry are tightening after the recent major accident at one of miner Vale's units, and iron ore producers are slowly adjusting their operations in the country to move toward dry stacking of waste material.
This is considered to be safer than the use of traditional tailings dams, such as the one operated by Vale that collapsed on January 25.CSN Minera????o, Minera????o Usiminas, Vallourec Minera????o, ArcelorMittal Minera????o and Gerdau - all mining companies affiliated with steelmakers - have announced either that they already operate with dry stacking, or that they plan to switch to this method soon.All the mines involved in this readjustment are in the south-eastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, where there was an earlier similar accident in 2015 at a mine operated by Samarco. That company was a pellet producer jointly owned by Vale and BHP, but it has since been closed by the authorities.After the rupture of a dam on January 25 this year at Vale's C??rrego do Feij??o mine, located in Minas Gerais, authorities began inspections on a number of tailings structures in Brazil. This ultimately resulted in the country...