More Brazil tailings dams certified as stable

The condition of tailings dams at Brazilian mines has improved, according to mining regulator ANM.

Of the 456 tailings dams included in the national dam safety policy (PNSB), 93% were certified as being adequately stable as of September, ANM said in a release.

Six months earlier, 91% of the structures were in adequate condition and last year the figure stood at 89%.

“This improvement in the scenario is due to the joint effort to improve these structures, whether by ANM, as a supervisory body, prosecutors, audits and the companies," Luiz Paniago, ANM's mining dam safety superintendent, said in a release.

Dam conditions became a sensitive topic in Brazil after one structure collapsed in 2015 and another in 2019, causing hundreds of fatalities and major environmental damage. In response, miners started decommissioning many of the dams.