Brazil judge orders Vale workers out of jail; miner's credit rating cut
BRASILIA – A Brazilian judge on Wednesday ordered the release from jail of several Vale workers arrested last month in a criminal investigation of a deadly mine accident, saying there was no risk they would flee or destroy evidence.
Separately, Vale's debt was downgraded by Moody's Investors Service, which sent its shares tumbling 1.6%. The stock bounced off session lows after the eight workers were released.
The miner has been under intense scrutiny after a tailings dam ruptured at its Corrego do Feijao iron-ore mine in the state of Minas Gerais on January 25, releasing a torrent of sludge that killed an estimated 300 people.
The company and its workers are under investigation for criminal responsibility for the dam rupturing, in the form of hundreds of "qualified homicides." Vale has said its risk management complied with all laws and regulations.
Appeals court judge Nefi Cordeiro ordered the release of eight Vale workers who had been jailed since February 15. News of the ruling was first reported by website G1.
Earlier, Moody's cut Vale's debt rating by one notch to Ba1 with a negative outlook, taking it out of investment grade range due to rising risks after the disaster.
Vale had announced it would take up to 10% of its output offline while it decommissioned all dams built with the same technique as the one at the Corrego do Feijao mine.
Separately on Wednesday, Brazilian Senate committees approved a bill to tighten dam safety following the disaster.
The raft of measures would require costly improvements to mines and also add new requirements for monitoring technology, insurance and continued mining tax payments in the event of disaster-related shutdown.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation