SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian miner Vale SA (VALE3.SA) on Wednesday said it swung to a quarterly loss as the company announced more than $2 billion in fresh writedowns related to two deadly dam bursts suffered by the company over a period of less than four years.
In late January, the collapse of a Vale tailings dam storing muddy mining waste near the town of Brumadinho killed nearly 250 people, less than four years after a deadly disaster at the company’s Samarco joint venture with BHP Group (BHP.AX).
The world’s largest iron ore exporter has since been grappling with the fallout, which has forced it to shake up its board, replace its CEO and made it the target of various criminal and regulatory probes.
The company’s newly installed Chief Executive Eduardo Bartolomeo said in a statement that Vale’s key priority, in addition to beefing up safety efforts, was to “reduce uncertainties” and “deliver sustainable results.”
Vale said it took $1.5 billion in writedowns for the cost of environmental measures and agreements related to the Brumadinho disaster as well as a $257 million charge to shut down its Germano dam. It also set aside $383 million for the Renova foundation, which is supposed to distribute funds to the victims of the Samarco disaster.
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