Brazil prosecutor requests suspension of Vale’s Onça Puma nickel operations

Brazil’s federal public ministry in Para state is demanding  Vale SA (NYSE:VALE) to halt its operations at Onça Puma, a nickel mine in the northern Brazilian state owned and operated by miner, reported Jornal Floripa news agency.

The authority claims Vale didn’t meet obligations to two native tribes, the Xikrin and Kayapó peoples, which were supposed to be fully compensated for damages caused to their communities by the nickel mine. The ministry is demanding Vale pay compensation of at least half a million dollars per month in compensation for the mine’s activities over the last two years.

The South American country’s public ministry says Vale also failed to mitigate the impact of the mine on the two communities, reported Reuters.

According to the legal action against the giant miner, Vale should not have received a license to operate the mine in Ourolandia do Norte, also in Brazil, since it failed to meet these conditions, which were set out in the mine’s preliminary license.