What happened to the village of Brumadinho?
The Brumadinho dam contained waste from an iron ore mine but gave way, unleashing a sea of mud which engulfed a staff canteen, offices and farms. Senior staff at the company responsible – Brazilian mining giant Vale – are facing murder charges over the January 2019 disaster.
How many people died in Brazil dam collapse?
Brazilian prosecutors have charged 16 people – including the former CEO of mining giant Vale – with murder and environmental crimes over the collapse of a tailings dam which killed 270 people on 25 January 2019.
What caused Brazil dam collapse?
AN expert panel commissioned by Brazilian mining giant Vale has concluded that a number of factors, including a steep slope design and high water level, combined to create the conditions for failure that led to the fatal collapse of a Vale tailings dam last year.
Where was the Vale dam disaster?
A two-and-a-half-hour drive west of the Alegria mine in Mariana is the municipality of Brumadinho. This was the site in 2019 of Brazil’s deadliest mining disaster, when a tailings dam at Vale’s Córrego do Feijão iron ore mine collapsed, killing nearly 300 people.
When was the Vale dam disaster?
On January 25, 2019, an 86-meter dam operated by Vale, a multinational firm in the mining and metal industry based in Brazil, collapsed resulting in 270 fatalities and extensive damage to the local environment in the state of Minas Gerais. The dam was holding waste from an iron ore mine situated nearby.
What happens if the dam breaks?
“When a dam fails, the huge amount of water impounded upstream is released downstream as a catastrophic flood,” he said. “If you have a population living downstream, that could mean loss of life, property damage and environmental damage.
When was the Vale dam collapse?
On January 25, 2019, an 86-meter dam operated by Vale, a multinational firm in the mining and metal industry based in Brazil, collapsed resulting in 270 fatalities and extensive damage to the local environment in the state of Minas Gerais.
What would happen if the Hoover Dam collapsed?
Damage to the Dam If catastrophe struck the Hoover Dam and it somehow broke, a catastrophic amount of water from Lake Mead would be released. That water would likely cover an area of 10 million acres (4 million hectares) 1 foot (30 centimeters) deep. Approximately 25 million people depend on water from Lake Mead.
How many tailings dams are in Australia?
In 2019 BHP announced that 32 of its 67 tailing dams were built using the upstream method and classified as ‘high risk or worse. ‘ Four of the five ‘extreme risk’ dams are in Australia – Mt Whaleback iron ore mine in WA and three at Olympic Dam in South Australia.