Brazil will offer 91 oil blocks permanently
Brazil's Ministry of Mines and Energy said in a statement on Friday that it will sell 91 oil blocks permanently. This could result in signing bonuses of up to 2.4 billion Reis ($394.11m) at the next auction. The government will offer 39 blocks within the Sao Francisco Basin of Minas Gerais, 41 blocks, and a marginal accumulating field in Rio Grande do Norte's Potiguar Basin, as well as 11 blocks located in Brazil's pre-salt region. Companies can bid on a block in the permanent offer model. These blocks will be included in the next auction cycle scheduled for 2025.
Taesa Expected to Pick New CEO May 17
The controlling shareholders of Transmissora Aliança de Energia Elétrica SA are choosing between a senior company officer and a turnaround executive for the top job at Brazil's No. 2 private-sector power transmission company, two people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. The board of Rio de Janeiro-based Taesa will meet on May 17 to pick a replacement for João Procópio, who stepped down as chief executive officer last month, said the people, who requested anonymity as the matter remains private.
Brazil to Sell Operating Licenses for Five Hydropower Plants
The Brazilian government will auction off rights to operate five existing hydroelectric dams by Sept. 30, a notice published on Wednesday in the official gazette said. The five hydropower plants have a combined capacity to generate 2.93 gigawatts. Four of those plants are operated by Companhia Energética de Minas Gerais, or Cemig, which is still fighting in courts to retain the operating licenses for the plants. The auction is part of Brazil's drive to sell licenses for infrastructure and energy projects, such as power plants, roads, airports and port terminals.
Brookfield-led Group to Buy Petrobras Natgas Pipeline stake
A consortium including Brookfield Infrastructure said it agreed to buy a 90 percent stake in the operator of a natural gas transmission system in Brazil from Petróleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) for about $5.2 billion. Brookfield-managed entities will hold a controlling interest in the consortium, which also includes China's CIC Capital Corp and Singapore's GIC Private Ltd, which are clients of Brookfield Asset Management. Brookfield Infrastructure's investment will be a minimum of about 20 percent of the deal…
Brazil Law to Ban Samarco Dam Design Could Pass in 2016
A Brazilian state law to ban upstream tailings dams, the design used for the dam that collapsed at the Samarco mine last November, could be passed this year, an environmental official for the state of Minas Gerais told Reuters on Wednesday. Anderson Silva de Aguilar, the subsecretary for environmental regulation, said Samarco, which is co-owned by Vale SA and BHP Billiton, would not be resuming operations this year and might not in 2017 either. (Reporting by Marta Nogueira)
Brazil's Temer Looking to Replace Vale CEO
Brazil's interim President Michel Temer plans to replace the head of the nation's largest miner, Vale SA, because he is too closely allied with suspended President Dilma Rousseff, newspaper Valor reported on Thursday. Valor said a decision has yet to be taken, and cited one source as saying that controlling shareholders had not yet discussed the issue. A government move to replace current Chief Executive Murilo Ferreira would be controversial as Vale, the world's largest producer of iron ore, is a private company that is supposedly free from state interference.
Brazil Prosecutors Investigate Two Petrobras Pipe Suppliers
Brazilian police and prosecutors said they are investigating pipe suppliers Apolo Tubulars and Confab in the latest phase of a sweeping investigation of contracts with state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras. Prosecutor Roberson Pozzobon said Jose Dirceu, the convicted former chief of staff of ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, benefited from fraudulent contracts with Petrobras. Rio de Janeiro-based Confab is a shareholder of Brazilian steelmaker Usinas Siderúrgicas de Minas Gerais and part of Italian industrial conglomerate Techint Group.
Brazil Mining Dam Reforms Unsettle Companies
Brazilian regulators plan to tighten rules on dams used in the mining industry after a breach last year caused the nation's worst environmental disaster but the changes, while opposed by struggling companies, look unlikely to improve safety. Environmental authorities say they will demand an increase in the number and focus of audits for hundreds of dams holding mining waste, known as tailings. They also want to limit the size of dams and how often their walls can be raised to store more waste.
Vale, BHP hit with $44 bln Civil Lawsuit for Dam Collapse
Prosecutors seek $2.16 bln payment upfront; Vale, BHP say yet to receive notice of claim. Mining companies Vale SA and BHP Billiton were hit with a 155 billion-real ($43.5 billion) civil lawsuit for the collapse of a dam at a mine last year that killed 19 people and caused damage that prosecutors said was comparable to BP's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The 359-page lawsuit brought by independent federal prosecutors was the result of a six-month investigation and is also against state and federal governments.
Vale SA: Iron Ore Output at Risk Due to Licensing
Brazilian miner Vale SA said on Thursday it could lose as much as 100 million tonnes of annual iron ore output in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais over the next three years due to pending environmental licenses. The world's largest iron ore producer, in an email sent to Reuters, said licenses for 88 projects were still being analyzed. If they were not approved, consequent shutdowns would halve Vale's output in the state. Production cuts could come as soon as the next few months, Vale said, as its 30 million-tonne-per-year Brucutu mine requires a license for a connected dam.
Samarco Execs Reportedly Charged in Seven Deaths
Brazilian police in the state of Minas Gerais charged six Samarco executives and one contractor for crimes relating to the deaths of 19 people caused by a burst tailings dam at a mine in November, the G1 news website reported on Tuesday. The Samarco chief executive at the time of the incident, Ricardo Vescovi, was among those charged, according to the report. Samarco is a joint venture of Vale SA and BHP Billiton. Samarco had no immediate response to a request for comment. (Reuters, Reporting by Stephen Eisenhammer Editing bhy W Simon)
Brazil Police may Accuse Samarco Execs of Homicide in Dam Burst
Brazilian police have enough evidence to accuse executives of miner Samarco Mineração SA with homicide over a deadly dam burst in November, a police chief told newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo on Friday. Police earlier raided the offices of Samarco, a joint venture of Vale SA and BHP Billiton, in Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais state, and in Mariana, where the iron pellets venture is located. "We have all the autopsy reports. ... The crime of homicide occurred, we will decide if it was voluntary or involuntary," police chief Rodrigo Bustamente said, according to Folha.
Brazil Blocks Belo Monte Dam Operation
A Brazilian federal court has revoked a lower court's injunction that had suspended the operating license for the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, one of the world's largest, Brazil's Energy Ministry said in a Twitter post on Wednesday. The ministry said a decision from the federal court in Brasilia lifted the earlier order blocking the beginning of power generation at Belo Monte, which had been planned for the coming weeks. Belo Monte, a dam built on the Xingu River in the middle of the Amazon forest…
Brazil Cautious on Re-starting Hydro Dams After Mining Spill
Four hydroelectric dams along Brazil's Rio Doce remain closed for an indefinite time after a deadly mining spill in November flooded the river with thick mud, according to water agency ANA. ANA said in an emailed statement that only one of four hydro plants along the 800 km (497 mile) river, which runs through states of Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo, had requested to power up as the others continue to assess potential damage from the spill. The bursting of a dam at the Samarco iron ore mine on Nov.
Judge Blocks Brazilian Assets of Vale, BHP After Dam Burst
A judge in Brazil's state of Minas Gerais has frozen the Brazilian assets of mining giants BHP Billiton and Vale SA after determining their joint venture Samarco was unable to pay for damage caused by the bursting of a dam at its mine last month. In a ruling issued late on Friday, the judge ruled that Vale and BHP could be held responsible for the disaster at the iron ore mine in the state of Minas Gerais, for which the government is demanding 20 billion reais ($5 billion). Vale and BHP each told Reuters they had not yet been notified about the decision. The companies are able to appeal.
Update: Incident at Samarco
This update provides further information on the incident at the Samarco Mineração S.A (Samarco) iron ore operation in Minas Gerais, Brazil on Thursday, 5 November 2015. Each of BHP Billiton and Vale holds a 50 percent interest in Samarco. Samarco has advised that, at this stage, there are nine fatalities. Samarco has also advised that four people previously unaccounted for have been found and 19 people remain unaccounted for. We offer our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of those who have died as a result of this tragic incident.
Brazil President Surveys Dam Disaster Site
President Dilma Rousseff on Thursday flew over a devastated part of Brazil's southeast region where two dams burst at an iron ore mine last week, killing at least seven people and swamping a vast area with mud and mine waste. Her visit comes as federal prosecutors said Wednesday they would work with state prosecutors to investigate possible crimes behind the disaster, and the country's mining minister said the government would conduct an audit of other dams in the sector. The…
BHP, Vale CEOs Visit Brazilian Mine Disaster Site as Toll Mounts
The chief executives of BHP Billiton Ltd and Vale SA on Wednesday surveyed the devastation caused by burst dams at a Brazilian mine owned by the mining giants, as the human and environmental toll from the disaster mounted. Six people are confirmed killed and another 22 are missing as a result of the ruptures at an iron ore mine in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais nearly a week ago. The search for more victims is continuing along nearly 100 km (62.5 miles) of mud-caked floodplain.
Low Oil Price a Lifeline for Small Iron Miners
Efforts by big iron ore producers to put smaller, higher-cost rivals out of business by oversupplying the market are not paying off yet, and it's mainly due to price falls in another commodity - oil. The ploy by Australian majors Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton has pushed iron ore prices to their lowest in more than five years. That should have squeezed out smaller producers, helping the majors to increase market share and the price to rebound. But a recent slump in freight rates, largely due to a collapse in bunker fuel prices…
Vale Says May Close Corumba Mine System in Western Brazil
Brazil's Vale is considering the closure of its 2-million tonne per year iron ore Corumba system in Western Brazil as the price of the steelmaking ingredient lingers at five-year lows, its head of iron ore said on Friday. "There's always a doubt on Corumba which is our small system in the west of the country," Peter Poppinga told investors at a strategy day in London. He added that all of the company's mines in its south and southeastern systems in the state of Minas Gerais were making money at the current price. The price of iron ore <.IO62-CNI=SI> has halved this year to $70.90 per tonne.
