767 state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, studies are underway to begin operations in 2028 to reuse the tailings removed and processed at the plant to produce pellet feed. This will reduce disposal in pits of depleted mines and the need for new areas to build waste piles, minimizing geotechnical, environmental, and social risks. Another stream of circular economy initiatives at Vale is creating value from the waste rock generated in mining—leveraging material previously considered waste, through innovation and technology, to transform this residue into economically viable material. Figure 1 – Reuse of iron ore tailings at the Gelado tailings dam Originally, at the Alegria mine in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, processing was wet, and recovering ore with high phosphorus content was not possible. However, by applying dry processing, the Phosphorous Waste Rock Pile became an option for feeding the plant as high-grade ore due to its high iron content, while also supporting the removal of this geotechnical structure. It is currently reused through blending with other ores, and the Phosphorous material has become an important mining front. The Capanema Maximization project, in Minas Gerais, Brazil, began by restarting the WH Waste Rock Pile. The operation includes a long-distance belt conveyor connecting Capanema to the Timbopeba plant, reducing truck traffic in the region. With fewer unit operations and dry processing, use of the pile is a 100% circular operation, ensuring maximum utilization of the mineral resource and an efficient, safe, and sustainable process. Today, with the advent of new technologies, it has become possible to recover tailings from mineral processing and integrate the recovered product into the industrial value chain (Ferrante, 2014). Some tailings dam recovery projects include gold and silver from the Pueblo Viejo tailings facility in the Dominican Republic (Ellicott Dredges, 2014), as well as copper and gold from the Ernest Henry mine tailings facility (Fitton & Neumann, 2015); uranium at the Ranger Mine tailings facility (Hall Water & Tailings, 2024); and coal from the Moura mine tailings facility (Neumann Dredging, 2024) in Australia. As stated by Kefeni et al. (2017), tailings reuse is extremely important because it extends the life cycle of mining by monetizing waste through innovative technologies and contributing to the circular economy. Hunt et al. (2014) indicate that technological innovation is important to integrate mineral production with tailings reuse. As mentioned by Tunsu et al. (2019), it is necessary to assess the geological uncertainties of the deposits. Sarker et al. (2022) indicate that it is necessary to adopt good sampling and chemical analyses to
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