Brazilian-based company Vale has been ordered to stop operations at its iron ore mine in Brucutu.
The mine is located in the municipality of São Gonçalo do Rio Abaixo in the Minas Gerais province.
The iron ore miner said that the suspension will not hamper production at the Brucutu mine.
The move follows a decision from Brazil’s National Mining Agency (ANM), which claims that Vale has exceeded the mineral reserve limit.
In a statement, the mining company said: “Vale understands that all the agency’s requirements to operate the mining front were fulfilled and reported in the economic utilisation plan submitted to the agency in 2017.
“Vale will take the appropriate measures in this case and reaffirms its 2019 iron ore and pellets sales guidance of 307-332 million tonnes, as per the previous announcement.”
Having been in operation for 13 years and employing more than 1,700 people, the Brucutu mine has an annual production capacity of 30Mtpa of iron ore.
In June, Vale announced that it was set to resume complete operations at the Brucutu mine.
The mining company was forced to halt operations in February this year after a tailings dam burst in late January in Brumadinho.
In a separate development, the company announced the Supreme Federal Court’s (STF) decision to ‘grant the return of Vale’s nickel operations (mine and plant), Onça Puma, in Ourilândia do Norte (state of Pará)’.
