A massive spill from a dam at Imperial Metal Corp’s Mount Polley mine containing mine waste in British Columbia, Canada, sent billions of gallons of wastewater and sludge into waterways. The mine is operated by Samarco, a joint venture between the Anglo-Australian mining giant, BHP Billiton, and the Brazilian company Vale.
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Brazil’s leading news website G1 published images of destroyed homes and cars in heavy heaps of mud.
People gather at the Arena Mariana in Mariana city, after a dam broke in the nearby village of Bento Rodrigues on November 5, 2015.
There has so far been no official information from the government or the company involved on the number of casualties.
At least one body has been recovered and authorities said an unknown number of people were missing.
The Guardian is reporting that authorities say the dam was built to hold back water and residue from the mining operation, and it is often toxic. “Access is extremely hard – and we are now using helicopters to get to the site”, a spokesperson for the fire service told Mashable.
Firefighters said they did not know if they would find all of those swept away by the wall of water released by the successive bursting of the two dams holding iron ore tailings and waste from the adjacent mine.
“The dam failure is a major concern and could have a material impact on the near-term production outlook for Samarco”, it said in a client note. Vale referred questions on the incident to Samarco.
The dams’ proximity to the Gualaxo do Norte River has also raised fears of contamination.
Samarco, which churned out 25 million metric tons of mostly pellets previous year, uses water-filled pipelines to transport ore from its mines in the states of Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo to processing plants near its port.
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“We have engaged tens of thousands of our people across the company in discussions to upgrade their health and safety leadership, to make their workplaces healthier and safer, free from fatalities, serious injuries and long term health effects”, he said.
