The international speaker and representative of the Brumadinho community visited us to share her work at CSRM (Center for Social Responsibility in Mining at the University of Queensland), focusing on the lessons learned from one of humanity’s greatest mining tragedies.
On January 25, 2019, in the municipality of Brumadinho, Minas Gerais state, a dam containing wastewater from the Córrego de Feijão iron ore mine, owned by the mining company Vale, collapsed, spilling thousands of cubic meters of water and toxic mud into the area. 270 people lost their lives, one of the victims being Natalia Andrade, Angélica’s sister, who worked at the mining operation.
The Brumadinho disaster sparked a global movement that achieved reparations and major regulatory changes. Following lawsuits against the mining company Vale, four years later the Global Standard for Tailings Management for the Mining Industry (GISTM) was created, the most demanding and industry-validated standard currently in existence.
After this tragedy, which affected her family and a large part of the Brumadinho community, Angélica became an international activist for justice, social responsibility, and prioritizing safety in the mining sector.
She is currently pursuing a Master of Philosophy degree at the CSRM, and her research focuses on «Tailings failures and community consultation: pathways to disaster prevention.»
Along with Dr. Deanna Kemp and Dr. Jill Harris, she is part of a CSRM team—with Dr. Nigel Wight of SMI-ICE-Chile—conducting research on the El Soldado copper mine tragedy, which occurred in March 1965 in the town of El Cobre, Chile. The collapse of two tailings dams claimed the lives of more than 300 people.
During her visit to the SMI-ICE-Chile offices, Angélica Andrade shared her personal and academic experience with the Brumadinho disaster, emphasizing the importance of effective community engagement in disaster prevention, as well as a genuine commitment from mining companies to listening to stakeholders and taking them into account in decision-making.
Among the most significant challenges in tailings management, she highlighted the need to strike a balance between regulatory compliance, human rights, and industry practices to promote safety and accountability in industry.
“My focus of study is to understand the implications of community engagement in tailings management and safety,” she stated. “Is it just about complying with standards and regulations, and for mining companies to obtain a license to operate, or is it truly a form of participation that can improve the safety of tailings dams? I seek to understand the role that citizen participation can play in disaster reduction and tailings dam management.”
“I have always lived in Brumandinho, but until the disaster occurred, I never imagined there was a risk of collapse,” explained Angélica Amanda Andrade in her presentation. “Human beings learn through love and pain. And in the case of tailings dams, it is through pain… However, there is a risk of forgetting. And we cannot forget the reason why the GISTM standard was created, nor lose the memory of what happened there.”
