Column: US targets scrap to close the critical minerals gap
As the US government is discovering, investing in new scrap processing capacity is far cheaper and greener than building new mines.
Brazil’s lower house has created a special commission to evaluate talks between Vale (NYSE: VALE) and Minas Gerais state officials over compensation for the Brumadinho tailings dam collapse.
Lower house president Rodrigo Maia authorized the commission on Monday. It will include nine lawmakers and will be headed by Workers’ Party lawmaker Rogério Correia, who recently questioned the exclusion of those affected in the negotiation.
The head of Minas Gerais has rejected the miner’s proposed settlement of around 21 billion reais ($3.97 billion).
According to state officials, the amount offered does not even cover the material damages caused by the accident, estimated at 26 billion reais ($4.9 billion).
Minas Gerais is requesting 54.6 billion ($10.3 billion) in compensation, a figure that includes relocation and the psychological damage suffered by survivors and the victims’ families.
A new meeting has been scheduled for December 9.
The Córrego do Feijão mine’s tailings dam collapse, the deadliest in Brazil’s mining history, cost former chief executive Fabio Schvartsman his job and he now faces homicide charges. It also triggered a global inquiry into the status of 726 tailing dams.
