(Changes slug, raises number of those evacuated, adds detailsabout evacuation near ArcelorMittal dam)By Marta Nogueira and Pedro FonsecaBELO HORIZONTE/RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Some 700people were evacuated early on Friday from Brazilian towns neartwo separate tailings dams operated by Vale SA andArcelorMittal on mounting fears of a recurrence of lastmonth's deadly dam burst nearby.The collapse two weeks ago unleashed an avalanche of mudthat engulfed nearby buildings and farms, killing an estimated300 people in Brazil's deadliest mining disaster. As evidence mounted that Vale missed warnings of trouble atthe dam in the town of Brumadinho, pressure has risen on thefirm and other mining companies to bolster safety measures toavoid a recurrence.Vale shares were down 1.9 percent in morning trading to an11-month low of 40.87 reais. ArcelorMittal shares dropped nearly5 percent at 19.26 euros.Another dam, also used to store the muddy mining detritus
known as tailings and co-owned by Vale and BHP Group ,had collapsed in 2015, killing 19 people and wreaking massiveenvironmental damage.
Vale said Brazil's mining agency ordered the evacuation ofabout 500 people from a dam area at its Gongo Soco mine onFriday as a preventive measure after engineering consultancyWalm said a certificate guaranteeing stability conditions hadnot been issued for the dam.Walm could not be reached immediately for comment.
Local firefighters sounded evacuation sirens early onFriday, warning residents to flee because of signs ofinstability in the dam.Vale said it has intensified inspections in the area and wasinstalling equipment to detect vibrations and bringing ininternational consultants to assess the situation.Separately, ArcelorMittal said it ordered the evacuation ofabout 200 people near its dam by the town of Itatiaiu??u, about40 km (25 miles) from Brumadinho, after consulting with localauthorities.
The decision came after the steelmaker said it adopted morerigorous inspection criteria in the aftermath of the Brumadinhodisaster. A barrier stores tailings from the company's SerraAzul dam, with an output of 1.2 million tonnes of iron oreconcentrate and pellets."We will try to return people to their houses as quickly aspossible, even though it's not possible to say when that willbe," ArcelorMittal Brazil Chief Executive Officer BenjaminBaptista said in a statement.At the Vale mine 500 inhabitants from Bar??o de Cocais weretaken to a gym nearby, the municipality said on its Facebookpage. Like the collapsed dams Brumadinho and Mariana, co-ownedby Vale and BHP, the evacuated dams are in the Brazilian stateof Minas Gerais, traditionally its mining heartland.
Also on Friday, authorities closed a port terminal operatedby Vale in Vitoria, in the southeastern state of Espirito Santo,due to pollution problems. The municipality of Vitoria said on Thursday it had finedthe company 35 million reais ($9.5 million) for throwing miningresidues in the sea. Vale said it would take appropriatemeasures but added that recent inspections by local authoritieshad not detected any problems.
In the wake of the Brumadinho mining disaster, the state ofMinas Gerais cancelled Vale's license to operate another dam anda mine in the state. On Tuesday Vale declared force majeure on some iron orecontracts after a court-ordered halt to a mine responsible fornearly 9 percent of its output following the disaster. (Additional reporting by Alberto Alerigi in Sao Paulo; Writingby Carolina Mandl; Editing by Jason Neely, Susan Fenton andJeffrey Benkoe)
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