Brazilian miner Vale has stopped operations at its Onça Puma nickel mine in Brazil, after a court ordered the reinstatement of the mine’s operating licence suspension.

Earlier this month, Vale halted operations at the mine as a result of the suspension of its operating licence by Secretaria de Estado de Meio Ambiente e Sustentabilidade (SEMAS), the Environmental and Sustainability office of the Pará state.

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The order was allegedly due to the failure of the company to comply with its permit terms at the mine site.

Reuters reported the department as saying at that time that Vale failed to comply with the obligation of providing certain services for the communities that surround the mine.

On 7 October, a judge granted an injunction allowing the miner to resume activities at the Onça Puma nickel mine.

However, a higher court has now overruled the order.

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Commenting on the reinstate order, Vale said: “Vale has started the process to halt the activities at Onça Puma mine, Pará, and it will continue to take the appropriate administrative and judicial measures to reverse the order to suspend mine operations, which it considers unfounded.”

In a separate announcement, Vale signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Jiangsu Shagang Group to jointly pursue opportunities to develop steelmaking solutions while reducing CO₂ emissions.

The firms will undertake economic feasibility studies of cooperation on Tecnored plants and the usage of products with a decreased carbon footprint in the ironmaking process, as high-grade iron ore products.

The move is expected to contribute to Vale’s aim of reducing 15% of net Scope 3 emissions by 2035.

By 2030, Vale has pledged to reduce its absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 33%, as well as achieve neutrality by 2050.