Vale resumed on Thursday production at the pelletizing plant in Vargem Grande, Nova Lima, in Minas Gerais state, which was halted in February 2019.
With a nominal capacity of 7 million tonnes of pellets per year, the plant is expected to produce approximately 4-5 million tonnes in 2021, according
to its ramp-up and pellet feed availability.
Brazil’s mining regulatory agency had ordered Vale to halt operations at Vargem Grande to guarantee the stability of its dams.
Vale expects annual production of between 315 and 335 million tonnes for 2021.
The Vargem Grande mine is located in the same state as Brumadinho, the site of a dam operated by Vale that burst in January 2019 and killed 270 people.
On Thursday the company reported it had not reached an agreement on a settlement for damages regarding the disaster and that negotiations are currently on hold.
Minas Gerais is requesting 54.6 billion reals ($10.3bn) in compensation, a figure that includes relocation and the psychological damage suffered by survivors and the victims’ families.
Vale said on Thursday that the fire on one of the eight shiploaders at the Ponta da Madeira Maritime Terminal in São Luís, Maranhão, will not impact iron ore shipments.
Ponta da Madeira is one of Vale’s main assets and one of the most important iron ore and manganese loading terminals in the world. The terminal has a loading capacity of around 230m tonnes per year and is also one of the only ports in the country suited for the ultra-large Valemax ships.
A source at Ponta da Madeira – Vale’s main port – told MINING.COM the shiploader boom used on pier 4S was hit and may have to be replaced, which could take over six months to arrive from China.
A halt could limit Vale’s iron ore shipment capacity by 32 million tonnes from Ponta da Madeira in 2021, sources said.
The company said it expects to resume shipping activities at P4S in the next few days with the shiploader that was not hit.
“There will be no impact on the monthly iron ore shipment schedule, due to the Northern System production seasonality – due to the rainy season in the North of Brazil – and the Northern System expected production for 2021, below the shipping capacity of 230 Mtpy,” the company said.
Vale expects to conclude the maintenance activities in the first half of 2021.
