Mining company AngloGold Ashanti has established a level 1 alert for one of its dams, CDS II, located in the municipality of Santa Bárbara, in Minas Gerais. The information was released this Saturday (8), after a preliminary inspection carried out on Friday (7) by technicians from the National Mining Agency (ANM), who are monitoring the case.
AngloGold Ashanti stressed in a press release that the decision follows the Emergency Action Plan for Mining Dams (PAEBM): “At this level, it is not necessary to sound sirens or evacuate the self-rescue zone, as there is no risk imminent breakup. We stress that the competent authorities are being involved.”
According to the company, after a routine inspection, the technical team identified a crack, centimeters wide, in the dam, “which is common in a structure undergoing reinforcement works”.
“The change to level 1 is preventive and will continue until the presentation of studies and analyzes by the specialized external audit confirming the safety and stability of the dam to the ANM. We emphasize that the CDS II dam has all the legal licenses, in addition to the stability condition statement issued by an external audit in September 2022”, explained the company.
Earlier in the evening, AngloGold Ashanti reported that it had received the report from a specialized external company “attesting that the safety factor of the CDS II dam is above the recommended level, which proves the safety and stability of the structure. The current safety factor is 1.82, that is, higher than the minimum required by legislation, which is 1.50”.
The declaration and other information about the dam can be consulted on the company’s website: www.anglogoldashanti.com.br/barragens/nossas-barragens/barragem-cds-ii. In case of doubt, residents of the region can contact the relationship channel by calling 0800 72 71 500.
