HILARY JOFFE: Jagersfontein points to all-round failure to deal with tailings dams
For the global mining industry, Brumadinho proved to be the pivotal moment that focused the collective minds of the industry and its shareholders on the responsible management of mine dumps and dams. For SA, the Jagersfontein tailings dam tragedy has raised questions not just about the murky history of the companies involved, but more broadly how SA manages mines after they close and the regulatory mess around the issue.
Will Jagersfontein then prove a pivotal moment for SA mining and its regulators? In January 2019 a tailings dam at a mine in Brazil owned by iron ore giant Vale failed, killing 270 people and destroying much of the town of Brumadinho. The crash in the Vale share price that followed was the biggest single-day loss in the history of the Brazilian stock exchange. The company ended up paying billions of dollars to repair the environmental damage and compensate the community, and in fines to regulators...
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