[ferro-alloys.com]The state labor court in Brazil's Minas Gerais state has frozen Real 800 million ($212 million) worth of Vale assets following the fatal collapse Friday of a tailings dam at its Corrego do Feijao iron ore mine, the court said Monday.

The amount seeks to ensure payment of indemnities to those affected by the failure of the dam, which has left at least 60 people dead and up to 292 people missing, near Brumadinho in Vale's southeastern system.

"The measure will not impair the functioning of the company, since its assets represent more than ten times the value referred to above, as consulted in company's website," said the court in an emailed statement.

That is in addition to the previous Real 11 billion ($2.92 billion) in assets frozen ruled by judges in Belo Horizonte and Brumadinho in Minas Gerais state as a result of the accident. This represents almost half of Vale's available cash flow, put at around $6 billion.

Vale will also be fined Real 250 million by Brazil's Ibama federal environmental institute and Real 99.14 million by the state of Minas Gerais.

"Vale understands that such freezing are not necessary, since it will not be exempt from its obligations to provide emergency services to the population and due reparation," the company said in a emailed statement when asked about the latest freezing of assets.

Vale halted operations at the Corrego do Feijao mine, with 7.8 million mt/year capacity, following the dam burst.

(S&P Global Platts)

• [Editor:王可]