SAO PAULO – Brazilian miner Vale was fined about 86.3-million reais ($16.82-million) after the country's comptroller general decided the firm did not present truthful information on the conditions of its Brumadinho tailings dam prior to a 2019 disaster.
The mining giant said it did not agree with the decision and would appeal within the next 10 days.
Vale said the government considered that the company wrongly issued a positive Stability Condition Statement - a document that certifies the safety of a dam - for Brumadinho's tailings dam from June to September 2018.
The collapse of the dam at Vale's Corrego do Feijao mine, in January 2019, left 270 dead and ravaged nearby forests, rivers and communities.