Brazil's National Mining Agency (ANM) on Friday ordered the immediate embargo of the Maravilhas II tailings dam, owned by Vale, at the Pico Mine in Itabirito, in the central region of Minas Gerais state. The decision, published in the Federal Official Gazette, comes eight months after the structure left emergency level 1 in January. According to G1, which first reported the case, the miner is barred from depositing tailings in the dam, which was active when the measure was ordered. Maintenance, safety and compliance work remains allowed.

According to the ANM, the embargo does not stem from a new anomaly in the structure. The problem is documentary: studies submitted by Vale did not account for the dam's condition after reinforcement works completed at the site, leaving outdated both the study that simulates a potential failure and the Mining Dam Emergency Action Plan (PAEBM, its Portuguese acronym), the protocol that guides the response to a possible collapse and the protection of Itabirito's communities. At the last on-site inspection, on July 13, agency technicians found no signs of immediate compromise to the dam's safety.

Because of the irregularity, the structure was reclassified to alert level. The ANM stresses that this classification differs from emergency levels and does not indicate an immediate risk to stability. For the embargo to be lifted, Vale must update the hypothetical failure study and the PAEBM and undergo a new agency evaluation to verify the plan's compliance and operability.

Reinforcement works had ended the emergency in January

Vale said the Maravilhas II emergency level 1 was closed on January 9, after reinforcement works concluded in October 2025 that, according to the company, improved stability conditions and met legal requirements. The dam then received a positive Declaration of Stability Condition (DCE), a technical document attesting to the structure's stability. At the time, the miner said Maravilhas II was the 23rd Vale structure to leave an emergency level since 2022. Contacted by G1 about the embargo, Vale had not responded by the time of publication.

Minas Gerais holds most of Brazil's iron ore tailings dams and has lived under heightened scrutiny since the Mariana collapse in 2015 and the Brumadinho disaster in 2019, the latter at a Vale dam, which killed 270 people. The Itabirito case shows the current oversight regime working in both directions: the agency lifted the emergency once the works were done, then stepped in again when the paperwork stopped reflecting the dam's actual condition. The outcome now depends on how quickly Vale updates its studies and proves to the ANM that the emergency plan protecting Itabirito's population matches the structure standing at the Pico complex today.