Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
Former Vale (NYSE: VALE) president Fábio Schvartsman may escape criminal charges for the 2019 Brumadinho dam collapse after a second judge in a Minas Gerais court voted to dismiss them.
According to the Federal Regional Court of the Sixth Region in the Brazilian state, prosecutors did not meet the minimum standards to prove the former Vale president’s involvement in the dam breach at one of the company’s iron ore mines.
The disaster in January 2019 resulted in the deaths of 270 people.
The court consists of three members. On Dec. 13, federal judge Boson Gambogi was the first to vote to dismiss the charges. This Tuesday, federal judge Pedro Felipe Santos followed his colleague’s decision, as reported by Folha de São Paulo.
However, votes can be changed until Mar. 12.
Fifteen other individuals, including executives from Vale and the consulting firm Tuv Sud, are defendants in the case. All are accused of qualified homicide and environmental crimes.
According to a report presented by the Federal Police in February 2021, the breach occurred after liquefaction of the tailings during drilling on the dam.
Schvartsman’s lawyer, Maurício de Oliveira Campos Júnior, said that the executive was unaware of that drilling.
