The Brazilian state of Minas Gerais has reportedly rejected a settlement offer of approximately R$21bn ($3.97bn) offered by Brazilian mining firm Vale for the dam disaster occurred in January 2019.
Following a meeting, the head of the state Mateus Simoes told local paper Isto e Dinhero that the state has disagreed with amount as well as some of the terms offered by the company.
The accident at its Córrego do Feijão iron ore mine involved the collapse of a dam and resulted in a wave of sludge. The incident is believed to have claimed the lives of 270 people.
Simoes was quoted by Reuters as saying: “The value is still far from what we expect. We also don’t agree with some terms set by Vale.”
Further meeting set to be held in December 2020
A further meeting is set to be held next month with a focus on terms rather than values, Simoes added.
Although the values that are involved in the negotiations have not been revealed, Vale intends to continue to ‘have a constructive dialogue’ with authorities, the news agency reported.
Separately, Vale has started the Level 2 emergency protocol for the Norte / Laranjeiras dam, of the Brucutu mine, in the municipality of Barão de Cocais.
As part of the preventive measure, around 34 people residing within the dam’s Self-Rescue Zone are planned to be evacuated within the next few days.
In a press statement, Vale said: “Vale adopts this measure in line with the monitoring of the safety conditions of its structures and maintains a geotechnical investigation campaign in order to define the actions for their continuous improvement.”
