Vale has announced that it has started the process of halting its activities at the Onça Puma nickel mine, Pará, following a notification of the suspension of its operation license from the Environmental and Sustainability office of the Pará State (Secretaria de Estado de Meio Ambiente e Sustentabilidade, SEMAS), allegedly due to non-compliance with conditions for licensing.
Vale is estimating the direct impacts of the shutdown of Onça Puma mine, to which will follow the probable losses incurred by those that are part of its value chain, such as suppliers, contractors, clients and employees, in addition to the Federal government, the State of Pará, and the municipalities reached by the operations.
The company is in contact with SEMAS in an attempt to understand the technical and legal grounds for the determination. It is also taking the appropriate administrative and judicial measures to reverse the order to suspend mine operations, which it considers unfounded.