
A tailings dam collapsed on January 25,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcYkT0qLIJQ
The dam, owned by Vale S.A., was constructed using the upstream raise method. Most media outlets that attempt to describe the facility and the failure don’t understand the basics of tailings impoundments. As much as people want to understand why this happened, it will be some time until the failure mechanisms are understood as investigations unfold. And who knows if thoese studies will ever make it back to industry. In the meantime, Brazilian officials are holding Vale executives and their consultants accountable and there have been 8 arrests recently.