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Please upgrade your browser or activate Google Chrome Frame to improve your experience The BRL 950 million ($175 million) São João do Paracatu solar park in Minas Gerais employs 500,000 solar modules distributed over an area of ​​509 hectares and counts clients in the areas of mining magnesium industrialization and plastic production and recycling From pv magazine Latam Comerc Energia has inaugurated the São João do Paracatu photovoltaic complex in the municipality of Paracatu located in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais With investments of approximately BRL 950 million ($175 million) the solar park has an installed capacity of 267 MW In commercial operation since December 2023 the project has among its clients Granha Ligas one of the largest mining companies in the country; the primary magnesium industrial unit of the RIMA Group the only producer in the America and the Southern Hemisphere; and Valgroup The plant has about 500,000 PV modules spread over an area of ​​509 hectares the complex has already generated more than 275 GWh an amount corresponding to the energy consumed by cities with more than 480,000 inhabitants São João do Paracatu is expected to avoid the emission into the atmosphere of about 162,000 tons of CO2 and the project is capable of generating about 145,000 carbon credits per year which took place inside the São João do Paracatu plant a special advisor at the Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy's National Secretariat of Transition and Energy Planning highlighted the importance of the projects that support the Brazil's energy transition “I would like to highlight the growth of solar energy in Brazil which five years ago represented only 0.9% of the energy generated in the country and now represents 7% which demonstrates the relevance of the state in this regard “We are committed to the energy transition and that is why we plan to invest close to BRL 12.5 billion in Minas Gerais alone to promote the growth of renewable energy in Brazil.” “It is a pleasure to inaugurate another project in Minas Gerais a state that is at the forefront of solar energy and that has played a very important role in Brazil's energy transition,” commented Comerc Energia CEO Andre Dorf “Comerc Energia has become one of the largest generators of renewable energy in the country thanks to its numerous and important assets in this state “Thanks to our portfolio of more than 2 GW of installed capacity we can support the decarbonization process of some of the largest companies in Brazil which indicates that we are playing our role well as one of the main decarbonization agents in the country.” Paracatu City Mayor Igor Santos spoke about the benefits of having another large-scale solar plant in the city and said that the municipality is available for new solar energy projects in the region “We are very happy with the inauguration of this great project in our city which will boost the economy and create opportunities for the development force we have We want solar generation companies to know that they can count on our support because we are aligned with [Minas Gerais] Governor [Romeu] Zema and the Ministry of Mines and Energy to provide the conditions to build a success story with renewable energy in our city,” he said with the start of commercial operation of UFV Várzea with 118 MWp of installed capacity in the Minas Gerais municipality of Várzea da Palma the last Centralized Generation solar plant in its 2021 business plan Comerc Energia will reach the 2.1 GW mark of installed capacity adding its Centralized and Distributed Solar and Wind Generation assets Comerc Energia has stood out for the efficiency of its projects the company had its solar plants on the list of the 20 most efficient in Brazil in nine of the 12 months of 2023 it occupied the top eight positions in the same ranking out of a total of 471 solar parks evaluated More articles from Alessandra Neris Please be mindful of our community standards and website in this 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View our privacy policy. × The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this Close Mining company Kinross’s ambitions to create most productive gold mine in Brazil plagued by health risks and threats to activists and opponents Juliana Morais da Costa still retains enough strength in her hands to hold the heavy bateia but I did it because it was the only way to be economically independent,” remembers Morais Her home city of Paracatu is the epicentre of Brazil’s mining production which generates almost one-third of Brazil’s total mining production Mining activities are carried out as close as 200 meters from the urban area Photograph: Luis de las AlasThe exploitation of gold started in Paracatu as early as 1722 Since the 1990s the hunt has moved from the river banks to underground deposits excavators and chemicals replaced the garimpeiros who were pushed out from a business that had sustained hundreds of families Canadian company Kinross – which is listed in the New York Stock Exchange and owns gold mines in Chile among other countries – took over the mining concession in Paracatu During a period in which gold prices rose to historical new heights in global markets tripling annual production to the current 15 tonnes and making Paracatu the most productive gold mine in Brazil As the gold in Paracatu takes the form of a powder and not grain or nuggets the company had to greatly intensify mining activities to keep production up Today as many as 160 dynamite explosions are carried out daily to dig the Morro do Ouro as locals refer to the area where the main deposits are found the local geography has been profoundly transformed As you approach the mining area we witness an immense crater that covers 615 hectares The only signs of life are the imposing bulldozers and the high-wheeled vehicles that transport the rocks to the plant are employed to separate out the gold powder which is later molten in ingots and transported by helicopter to São Paulo for export around the globe While the visual impact seems hard to deny – in addition to the mining area two large dams the size of an extra Heathrow airport are used for toxic waste disposal – many argue that the mine poses a threat to the local environment and to the health of the 90,000 Paracatu residents Not only is dynamite used to access the gold reserves as close as 200 metres from the urban area the precious metal is mixed in the rock with arsenic Arsenic is commonly found in gold mines, but in Paracatu it is of particular concern. For each tonne of rock removed only 0.4 grams of gold is recovered and 1kg of arsenic is released into the air and groundwater “Nobody knows how much arsenic is going to the city The northeasterly wind here means that the arsenic travels in the air from the mine to the urban area People are inhaling the toxic dust and consequently are inhaling arsenic,” explains José a local physician and also an opponent of the mine argued in a recent scientific article that “the potential damage of arsenic in a gold mine like the one in Paracatu could impact seven trillion people” Intensive mining has created a crater reminiscent of lunar landscape Photograph: Luis de las AlasMany in the city wonder if their life is at risk while the word “cancer” has become a taboo Data from Paracatu’s city council shows that the cancer mortality rate in the town is similar to the rest of the country Critics argue that statistics from the local government are unreliable patients must go to hospitals located hundreds of kilometres away to receive treatment and so are not counted in the city’s official data The attitude of the company is also under scrutiny According to documents seen by The Guardian and interviews with former employees several Kinross’ employees worked as an intelligence unit to track any potential activity against the mine or the company’s reputation denied any risk to the health or the environment We regularly make environmental and biological tests and we have hired external sources to carry studies He also underlined the economic importance of the company’s activity for the region Kinross paid about $10m in taxes and currently employs 3,300 people in the mine about 8% of the active population in the city Gilberto Azevedo argues there is no health risk for the 90,000 local residents As we drive through the public roads bordering the concession an armed guard who had been following the car for an hour brings us to a halt and questions us Dozens of documents and internal emails seen by The Guardian show that in 2012 and 2013 Kinross had a policy in Paracatu of regularly monitoring potential opponents including the former mayor Almir Paraca – known for being outspoken against the mine – and several union leaders neighbourhood associations and their representatives They even monitor what some Kinross’s employees do at their free time The main goal is to hide or repress any action demonstration or reference against the mining company or their interests” knowledgeable of Kinross’ policies because of his/her former post at the company And at least two local activists – Rafaela Xavier Luiz and Evane Lopes - have had to leave the city in recent months after they received death threats which they argue were linked to their opposition to the mine Kinross is a company that dialogues with the community,” says Azevedo when asked if the enterprise was in any way involved in the threats to activists Kinross also denied it monitored activists or opponents The social impact hub is funded by Anglo American. All content is editorially independent except for pieces labelled “brought to you by”. Find out more here Join the community of sustainability professionals and experts. Become a GSB member to get more stories like this direct to your inbox The Paracatu gold mine is located in Brazil north of Paracatu city and nearly 230km from the capital city of Brazil Operations at the open pit property began in 1987 Proven and probable reserves: 763mt; Measured and indicated resources: 540mt The mine is owned by Canada-based company Kinross Gold and is operated by Rio Paracatu Mineração (RPM) The company first acquired 49% stake in the mine in 2003 with the merger of TVX Gold Kinross became the sole owner of the mine in 2004 when it purchased the remaining 51% stake from Rio Tinto The mine produced 500,380oz of gold in 2013 The combined proven and probable reserves as of 31 December 2013 were estimated to be 763 million tonnes (mt) graded at 0.42g/t Au The measured and indicated resources were estimated to be 540mt graded at 0.36g/t Au The deposit is a metamorphic gold structure hosted within the lowermost section of the Upper Proterozoic Paracatu Formation that is regionally known as the Morro do Ouro sequence The Morro do Ouro sequence is a complex of highly deformed phyllites Mineralisation is syn-deformational with the rock thrusting of the sequence from west-southwest to east-northeast and is restricted to the finely laminated phyllites southwest dip hosts the anamalous gold and sulphide mineralisation The strain zone extends more than 6km along a northeast-southwest trend ore grade varies according to geologic features extent of shearing and the content of arsenopyrite Mineralisation has been segmented into four horizons designated – C B1 and B2 – based on the extent of oxidation and surface weathering and related sulphide mineralisation Reserves are hosted in the B1 and B2 horizons with the C and T horizon exhausted due to mining Gold is hosted as free gold or electrum with sulphide mineralisation The deposit is mined using open pit methods It is usually ripped pushed and loaded on to the carriers Blasting of the harder ore hosted in certain sections of the mine began in 2004 The ore is broken using CAT D10 dozers and loaded using CAT 992 front-end loaders The ore is delivered to the crusher in CAT 777 haul trucks Run-of-mine is transported by 240t capacity rear-dump haul trucks to the 480t crusher dump hopper Processing is carried out in a 61mtpa processing plant The primary crusher is installed within the open pit The ore is crushed to 25mm and the circuit ball mill grinds it to 80% Sulphide and gravity concentrates are produced in the ball mills The concentrates are grinded again in the ball mills and leached in cyanide in the carbon-in-leach (CIL) plant Dore bars of gold are produced from the metal recovered from the leached carbon An expansion was undertaken in 2006 to increase the ore processing facilities at the mine from 18mtpa to 61mtpa The expansion was necessitated after an exploration drilling found an increase in the mine reserves The expansion is expected to extend the mine’s operations until 2042 a 20MW semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill The older plant processes soft B1 ore while the new plant processes both B1 and harder B2 ore Both the plants were operating at a capacity of 20mtpa An additional ball mill of 13MW became operational at the new plant in June 2011 increasing the new plant’s capacity to 41mtpa A fourth ball mill was also installed at the plant for increasing the productivity A single hydrometallurgical plant caters to both the plants This was expanded in 2008 to cater to the increased processing capacity Metso supplied the ball mill units for the Paracatu gold mine’s expansion Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights View all newsletters from across the GlobalData Media network The dates displayed for an article provide information on when various publication milestones were reached at the journal that has published the article activities on preceding journals at which the article was previously under consideration are not shown (for instance submission Science of the Total EnvironmentCitation Excerpt :Furthermore As bioavailability to humans from the soil collected at Paracatu assessed using the bioaccessibility method is very small (Ono et al. The low bioaccessibility (<4%) and bioavailability observed for the analyzed material were explained and confirmed by some recent studies (Ciminelli et al. Those data are following Paracatu's minerals low solubility discussed by others (de Mello et al. 2012) and is attributed to the presence of gibbsite high amounts of iron oxy-hydroxides associated with a low carbon content (de Mello et al. All content on this site: Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Solar tracker firm Soltec is supplying single-axis tracker equipment to Engie subsidiary Solairedirect’s 158MW Paracatu solar PV power plant in Minas Gerais “Paracatu offers ideal conditions for solar tracking yield boost The robustness and reliability of SF Utility single-axis tracker standard features permit its application in extreme environmental conditions making it the ideal tracking solution to reduce operational risk,” said José María Lozano “Our solar trackers enable higher yield and greater site-filling options and reduce material and labor work; all combined to achieve the highest grade of customer success.” Over 5,400 complete solar trackers are being shipped to the PV plant located around 150 miles south-east of the country’s capital In June, Soltec said it would supply its SF Utility tracker equipment to the Floresta solar PV power plant in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. The country recently de-contracted nearly 250MW of solar capacity in an unprecedented auction we have upgraded our product offerings and features to bring you the best experience please check your email inbox for password reset message from PV Tech and follow the instructions Can\'t find the email? Try to sign in again and use the "Forgot Password" button If you have any questions please contact us Message Invalid character found in the request target [/en/news/kinross-golds-paracatu-mine-saw-stellar-throughput-in-q2/?position\u003d729489 ] The valid characters are defined in RFC 7230 and RFC 3986 Description The server cannot or will not process the request due to something that is perceived to be a client error (e.g. Note The full stack trace of the root cause is available in the server logs Kinross’ recent expansion of its Paracatu mine in Brazil invites superlatives It is tripling production at Paracatu and has transformed the operation into the biggest gold producer in Brazil It is also one of the largest gold mines in the world in terms of tonnes processed on a daily basis it also has one of the longest lives of any operating gold mine Kinross acquired a 49% stake in Paracatu as part of its acquisition of TVX and Echo Bay in 2003 and acquired the remaining 51% from Rio Tinto in 2004 to become 100% owner and operator the company mounted an intensive exploration program to increase gold reserves and justify a substantial capital investment in new mining and processing equipment to treat the harder ores that were being mined The exploration program proved highly successful resulting in a significant increase in reserves Paracatu had about 18 million ounces of gold reserves and an additional 4 million ounces of resources It clearly made sense to invest in a new more modern processing plant and the expansion project was approved in 2006 Construction of the new mine and processing facility took two-and-a-half years and about ten million man-hours to complete The new plant produced its first gold in October Paracatu produced 72,745 gold equivalent ounces with average gold grades at 0.42 grams per tonne Production is expected to be at design capacity by the end of second quarter of 2009 the expansion is expected to triple Paracatu’s production to about 550,000 gold ounces per year with proven and probable reserve grades averaging only 0.40 grams per tonne In order to reach such high production levels Kinross’ new plant needs to process very large quantities of ore The expansion boosts Paracatu’s capacity from 18 million to 60 million tonnes per year Paracatu purchased a fleet of nine 240-tonne mine trucks and Brazil’s largest mineral crusher The 38-foot diameter SAG mill is one of the largest in the world Its motor runs on 20 megawatts -enough to power a small town The expansion plant also includes two 24-foot diameter ball mills new flotation cells and a new hydrometallurgical plant Kinross is also looking at adding a third ball mill to improve recovery and throughput at Paracatu • Approximately 10,000,000 man-hours required to complete the expansion • 1 0,200 tonnes of steel used in construction • 56,000 cubic yards of concrete used in construction (by comparison the Empire State Building in New York City required 62,000 cubic yards) The nearby town of Paracatu has always had close economic ties to the mine with about 30% of the local economy directly tied to the operation The expansion is providing a major boost in terms of new jobs In addition to some 2,000 jobs created during construction the expanded operations have created 200 new permanent operating jobs at Paracatu — 20% more than the original operation Some 3,300 new jobs have been created across the Kinross supply chain including companies and workers outside Paracatu Purchases from the 550-odd local businesses that provide supplies and services to the mine are expected to triple to about $36 million Brazilian reais annually while tax revenues to the municipality will double Kinross has always been a strong supporter of community development and sustainability in Paracatu through programs like The Generation Project which assists the start-up of local small businesses and the Partnership Seminar — an initiative that brings company and community leaders together to prioritize and fund projects that help the local population Kinross has funded more than 30 projects in areas such as health Kinross invested $1.7 million dollars in the revitalization of Paracatu’s Rico Creek Improvements include cleaning up the impact of years of unauthorized small-scale mining activities stabilizing the banks of the creek and planting vegetation Two public recreational parks will also be built January 2003 Kinross acquires 49% of Paracatu through combination with TVX December 2004 Kinross acquires remaining 51% of Paracatu from Rio Tinto Δdocument.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()); Canadian Mining Journal provides information on new Canadian mining and exploration trends corporate developments and industry events Inverter manufacturer Sungrow has supplied its 1+X modular inverters to renewables company Comerc Renew’s 267MW solar PV plant in Brazil Located in the eastern state of Minas Gerais the São João Paracatu project combines both central and string inverters with 1.1MW single unit as a minimum which can be expanded to 8.8MW with eight units allowing for further flexible design for different block sizes seven units of 6.6MW inverters and 1,050 combiner boxes with 20 inputs while each module is designed with an independent maximum power point tracking (MPPT) With this latest supply deal in Brazil, Sungrow continues to increase its presence in one of the largest solar markets globally, where it already shipped more than 10GW of cumulated inverters in total “As an industry leader in the solar market Sungrow welcomes the opportunity to work with Comerc Renew on another essential project for Brazil We previously collaborated with Comerc Renew on their Helio Valgas 662 MWp and Varzea da Palma 118 MWp projects and are proud to supply the new São João Paracatu 267 MWp project We look forward to collaborating further with Comerc Renew,” said Rafael Ribeiro Sungrow remains one of the leading inverter suppliers globally, with a 56% growth in shipments in 2022 compared to the previous year and along with Huawei accounted for more than half of the market last year Farmer Antônio Geraldo de Oliveira amid the ruins of the Paracatu de Baixo district school - Pedro Stropasolas Five years after Samarco's crime in Mariana (MG) families in the districts of Bento Rodrigues Paracatu de Baixo and Gesteira – the three communities most impacted by the mud released by the ruptured Fundão Dam – still do not have somewhere to call home “People have already died who will not see their homes rebuilt And many will end up dying without ever seeing that” laments farmer Antônio Geraldo de Oliveira while walking among the buried chairs and children's books at the old school in Paracatu de Baixo He lives in one of the few houses left over after the mud destroyed the century-old village On November 5th, 2015, the Fundão Dam, owned by Samarco, a company controlled by Vale and BHP Billiton broke and dumped about 50 million cubic meters of iron ore waste throughout the entire Rio Doce river basin The toxic sludge that destroyed the centennial communities in Minas Gerais killed 19 people contaminated 663km of the Rio Doce river and sentenced approximately 700,000 people from 43 municipalities to poverty 342 family homes await construction through collective resettlement under the responsibility of the Renova Foundation which was created by the mining companies to manage the repair of areas destroyed by the mining waste they live in temporary housing rented by the Foundation in the Mariana urban area none of those responsible have been punished in the case which is being tried as a crime of “flooding” and not as a homicide or manslaughter which prevents the trial from going to a jury Brasil de Fato contacted the Renova Foundation to better understand the construction delays and problems with the precarious temporary housing but did not get a response until the publishing of this report they are the families of farmers who refute life in the city and prefer the countryside little access to electricity and frequent thefts Construction works of the new Paracatu de Baixo community are ongoing the access roads and the foundations of lots that will house 98 families which sits on the banks of the Rio Gualaxo do Norte and public facilities such as the health clinic and the school All this debris was shown to Brasil de Fato by Antônio: "Man destroys everything" The deadline for the delivery of the projects has already been postponed thrice The Renova Foundation's first promised completion date was in March 2019 the 2nd District Court of Mariana determined August 27 as the final deadline for delivering the homes there will be a daily fine of R $ 1 million applied to the Foundation run by the mining companies "It’s clear that none of the three settlements will be ready in February of 2021 Paracatu de Baixo and Gesteira without any houses ready" from the Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAB ) there are also families from other areas that were devastated who are part the resettlement program Altogether there are 512 family homes set to be built 43 in Barra Longa and one in Santa Cruz do Escalvado According to an analysis carried out by the Ramboll consultancy firm at the request of the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) only nine families have been resettled by Renova so far As for the temporary housing rented by the Renova Foundation because they are located in high risk areas or because they have other problems related to habitability "These three collective re-settlements are the three in which since these communities have been completely destroyed "But, in fact, there are a large number, more than 500 houses in the entire rural area of Mariana and Barra Longa that should be either built or renovated," he adds 6 km from the Fundão Dam and the first district to be hit by the waste construction of the new settlement is a little more advanced and will house 210 families infrastructure works and that of communal areas are in the final stages "They say that there is no time to build the housing projects offer indemnity and return everything that was taken from us they quickly built the plant for the Germano complex a pipeline connecting the state of Minas Gerais to Espírito Santo whose house was destroyed in Bento Rodrigues is part of the Commission residents who oversee the construction projects the resettlement of Paracatu and Bento Rodrigues is monitored by the State Prosecutor's Office whose actions have been important in speeding up the construction of the projects In the negotiations over the construction of the collective settlements one of Renova's requirements was to own the buried properties in exchange for the construction The residents of Bento Rodrigues were against it organized protests and remain owners of their material assets Mauro and others affected still honor the history of the location They created the Loucos por Bento group and usually visit the ruins on weekends for religious celebrations and to aid in the reconstruction of houses "I usually say that my belly button is buried in Bento So my relationship with Bento will never fade I see that if everyone had died in Bento it would be more comfortable for Samarco Because the paying of reparations for lives is easier than building communities” who works in a mechanic’s shop in downtown Mariana and awaits the construction of Novo Bento Until the crime occurred, mining was responsible for guaranteeing employment and income for the village population and subsistence of family farmers on the fertile lands along the banks of the North Gualaxo River – with emphasis on the women's cooperative that produced the piquinho pepper jelly "These are years that are being stolen it’s precious time that is being stolen from the lives of each one of us The crime didn’t happen only on November 5th it’s a crime that continues till this day" the delay has caused much suffering to families This is because the collective resettlement project which began after a long struggle on the part of those affected today is at risk of not ever getting off the pages who is part of the Residents’ oversight commission belongs to the 20 families that left Gesteira it’s forgetting what it is like to be united" who on the day of the dam rupture managed to run up the hill with her husband from where she saw everything she built over 43 years be washed away in 20 minutes by an avalanche of mud made cookies to sell and with eight other women organized religious ceremonies and a cooperative of sweets manufacturers in the old Community Hall she and her husband hardly ever left the house rented by Renova in the Cabanas neighborhood they would make a few sporadic trips to the market and to the Social Assistance Reference Center (CRAS) the two are only able to sleep with the help of medication Because several times they [Renova] asked for proof in order to supply me with a minimum wage" who used to go to Gesteira for meetings with Renova The purchase of the resettlement land in the Gesteira district was made in 2018 the area suggested by Renova to house 37 families – including those who owned farming land that was impacted – was seven hectares the same size as the area affected by the waste But the Resident’s Commission contested that the area was not fertile for the cultivation of crops and would prevent families from returning to work the fields To counter the proposal of the mining companies the Popular Project for the Resettlement of Gesteira was created which expanded the land to about 40 hectares the conceptual project suggested by those affected with the assistance of the Technical Advisory and Social Environmental Studies and Research Group (GEPSA) was finally concluded and filed for approval at the 12th Federal Court of Minas Gerais something that has not yet happened so far Although hailed as a top priority by the 12th Court judge presiding over the Rio Doce case the proposal "sleeps in a splendid cradle" according to Federal Public Ministry (MPF) prosecutor Renova says that it awaits a decision from judge Mário de Paula Franco Júnior in order to carry on with the construction the Foundation acts to dismantle the project seeking to negotiate with the 37 families under the Mediated Indemnity program the judge ratified eight of these agreements which were signed without the MPF's subpoena "People are being led to buy houses outside the areas in which they lived It is not simply the house they will live in The companies and the Renova Foundation have acted to destroy these ties in a press conference held on October 29 by the federal agency it was precisely the collective spaces that were destroyed the São Bento Church (built in 1718) Because the house here doesn't even have a yard Here I don't have a foot of land for me to step on The Renova Foundation was created in March 2016 through a Transaction and Conduct Adjustment Term (TTAC) signed between the mining companies the federal government and the states of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo Among its responsibilities, most of which have not been fulfilled, was the execution of 42 socioeconomic and environmental repair programs, and the reconstruction of communities destroyed by the mud "The delays on the part of the Renova Foundation are wiping out people and decimating everyone’s health but the memory Gesteira does not leave me” All original content produced and editorially authored by Brasil de Fato may be reproduced provided it is not altered and proper credit is given All original content produced and editorially authored by Brasil de Fato may be reproduced To shed light on the negligence involved and slow pace of construction of the new communities those affected began constructing a home through collective labor and solidarity - Screen capture/Brasil de Fato You have to go to the market for everything not even wanting to return to the new community The complaint comes from farmer Maria Geralda Oliveira until her home was destroyed on November 5th On this day, the Fundão dam, owned by the Samarco company – which is controlled by the Vale and BHP Billiton corporations – burst, releasing 50 million cubic meters of iron mining waste throughout the entire Rio Doce Basin Paracatu de Baixo and Gesteira districts of Mariana – all of which were totally devastated – have yet to be resettled who is currently living with five of her six children in the town According to information from the Renova Foundation construction of the new Paracatu de Baixo community is underway with things such as clearing land for new lots sewage and water supply works taking place who is a member of an oversight group comprised of those affected by the catastrophe warns that not a single home has been built Till today we’ve had no answer as to what the water situation will be like Bento Rodrigues, the first district to be hit by the spewing mud The Renova Foundation says that infrastructure and communal space works are in their final phase The delivery date for these projects has already thrice been delayed The new Gesteira community hasn’t even broke ground for its reconstruction with the conceptual project awaiting approval from the Justice system we know the Renova Foundation will never be able to stick to the deadline We don’t know their intentions and they keep delaying Everything leads us to believe that these errors are intentional with the aim of delaying the even more the delivery date and consequently giving extra funds to the Foundation and its employees” a businessman whose Bento Rodrigues home was destroyed he also lives in Mariana with his family waiting for the construction of New Bento Beyond the delays and the fear of not receiving just reparations those affected by Samarco/Vale/BHP’s crime still suffer from the loss of life they experienced destroyed plantations and these communities’ way of life the Foundation itself is pitting us against each other” Mauro da Silva believes that it will be easier for young people to adapt in the new settlements share the little with had with our neighbors…and I fear this will be lost in the new settlement people have grown accustomed to living in the city Rekindling that sense of belonging will be hard” To shed light on the negligence involved and slow pace of construction of the new communities and began constructing a home through collective labor and solidarity in November of last year her husband Douglas Basílio and their three children were selected to reside in the new house Till this day, Yolanda’s family has not been officially recognized as one of the victims of the crime committed by Samarco/Vale/BHP The house they lived in was affected by the movement of heavy machinery used by the mining company during repairs to the Barra Longa dam The walls are cracked and are a risk to people The solidarity home project was done by the Social and Environmental Study Group at the Federal University of Ouro Preto in partnership with the Resettlement Observatory: an action and support group for those harmed in the Mariana and Barra Longa municipalities One year on from collapse of the Samarco dam which killed 19 people and polluted one of the country’s most important rivers we’d like to thank you for joining the debate - we’re glad you’ve chosen to participate and we value your opinions and experiences Please choose your username under which you would like all your comments to show up Please keep your posts respectful and abide by the community guidelines - and if you spot a comment you think doesn’t adhere to the guidelines please use the ‘Report’ link next to it to let us know Please preview your comment below and click ‘post’ when you’re happy with it Thousands of residents from rural communities were forced to free from their homes - Larissa Helena/A Sirene Two years after the worst environmental tragedy in Brazil’s residents continue to recover from the devastating impacts caused by the Samarco dam disaster releasing 50 million cubic meters of iron-mining waste and toxic sludge along the Doce River thousands of residents from rural communities such as Bento Rodrigues and Paracatu de Baixo were forced to flee from their homes and relocated to temporary housing structures in nearby city centers.  most of these families have yet to receive any sort of legal compensation for the avoidable damages caused by the Samarco iron ore mine spill.  "I imagined a very different future," said Júlio César Salgado a displaced resident from the community of Bento Rodrigues.  there an estimated 300 families in Bento Rodrigues and Paracatu that remain exposed to degrading living conditions.  "My entire life has been completely put on hold aspirations and expectations of tomorrow have been suspended," resident Luzia Queiroz of the rural community Paracatu de Baixo told Brasil de Fato.  In efforts to achieve much needed assistance families are engaging in slow-moving legal battles in order to obtain basic financial guarantees and insurance for compensation and the use of safe technologies for containing waste.  Both international and domestic civil society groups criticized Samarco for its lack of due diligence and for its inadequate response in the immediate aftermaths of the disaster.  In an interview with Marino D’Angelo a displaced resident from the rural community of Bento Rodrigues described her interaction with a Samarco official immediately following the environmental disaster.  one of the engineers from Samarco came to visit me at my home to evaluate the damages that were caused by the spill claiming that only a tiny bit of toxic mud had entered my home," D’Angelo stated.  authorities carried out searches on the premises of the Samarco headquarters in which they collected copies of emails and internal company messages determining that company executives were aware about the impending risk of the dam breaking A 2013 report conducted by The Instituto Pristino linked to the Federal University of Minas Gerais warned of structural design flaws and predicted the circumstances that could lead to a dam burst at the Samarco operation provided it is not altered and proper credit is given.