Of course, in this article, there is no admission that the mine's operations have been suspended. But they have. Good that there will be a full investigation. Minas Gerais local governments are not going to turn a blind eye to this sort of thing. Samarco starting up again? Not so sure.

Vale really does need to up its game in terms of worker safety and care. Actions will speak louder than words.

Landslide kills worker at Vale mine near Brumadinho

A contractor was killed in a landslide on Friday at Vale’s Corrego do Feijao iron ore mine in Brazil, the same mine near Brumadinho where a tailings dam collapse in January last year killed 270 people.

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• 21 December 2020
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Staff Reporter

Vale said on Saturday it "deeply regrets" the death of contracted company Vale Verde's employee.

Vale said the man was carrying out maintenance activities on an excavator when he was hit by a landslide from a pit embankment.

It said both companies would provide support to the employee's family members and both were supporting the authorities in assessing the case and investigating the causes of the accident.

"On-site maintenance activities will be suspended for further studies and assessments of safety conditions," Vale said.

"The company reiterates its commitment to the safety of all its employees and the communities."

Vale is "de-characterising" its upstream tailings dams and structures.

The company is separately expecting within weeks to restart its Samarco iron ore joint venture with BHP, also in Brazil's Minas Gerais state, which was stopped five years ago after the fatal Fundao tailings dam failure that killed 19 people and caused widespread environmental damage.

From Mining Journal