Anglo gets Minas Rio pipeline going again after two-week break to fix leak
Anglo American restarted its Minas Rio iron ore slurry pumping after a 15-day hiatus caused by a leak.In a brief statement, Anglo said it had restarted operations at Minas Rio on March 27 after halting them on March 12. Brazil’s Environmental Institute agreed to the restart after perusing documents Anglo submitted, outlining the work it had done after the leak was detected.The leak was found in the single 530km pipeline that delivers the ore to the coast for export.Anglo did not say how much production was lost, or what the financial implications of the leak or suspended operations were.The break in the world’s longest slurry pipeline resulted in 300 tonnes of slurry containing 70% fine iron leaking out during a 25-minute period. Iron is inert and is not a danger to people.Included in the remediation work was the cleaning of the Santo Antonio do Grama creek with a crew of 200 people. The work to clean the bed and banks of the stream would be completed by the end of May, Anglo said."...
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