16/03/2018
We would like to inform an important change in Samarco’s executive leadership. Rodrigo Alvarenga Vilela, current director of Operations and Projects, will temporarily assume the position of CEO as of March 28. He will substitute Roberto Lúcio Nunes de Carvalho, who has left the company after 32 years of service.
The focus of the new CEO will be to continue working diligently alongside authorities to obtain the licenses that will permit the company’s return to operations.
Vilela joined Samarco in October 2016, with the challenge of leading the project to reinforce the remaining Fundão Dam structures and constructing a tailings containment system. The implementation of the Monitoring and Inspection Center (CMI), which was created based on the lessons learned from the dam break, was also completed under his management.
The executive has dedicated himself to planning operational readiness, seeking to maintain and prepare sites for the company’s return to operations. Since December 2017, he has been responsible for the projects area, which includes the nucleus of environmental licensing and strategy for the return to operations. Rodrigo will fulfill the role of CEO temporarily until operations return, while maintaining his duties as the director of Operations and Projects.
“I appreciate the trust of Vale and BHP shareholders. I will continue Roberto’s exemplary work. My main objective is to make Samarco operate again with maximum safety,” Vilela stated.
47, Vilela has a degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP) and an MBA in Business Management from the Dom Cabral Foundation, as well as specializations from the Kellogg School and the University of Cambridge. He has 25 years of experience in the mining sector and the operational management of large global companies, such as Anglogold Ashanti, Anglo American, BHP and Vale.
Roberto Carvalho started his career at Samarco in 1985. During this time, he was responsible for structuring the commercial area, which had operations on five continents. He left his position as Commercial Director in January 2016 to become the CEO of Samarco during the company’s most critical moment. He led actions related to humanitarian assistance and emergency environmental measures after the Fundão Dam break. During his management, the Terms of Transaction and Conduct Adjustment (TTAC) was approved by the Federal Government and the states of Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo that created the Renova Foundation, responsible for reparations and compensations of the impacts caused by the dam break.
“I am finishing my time at Samarco with a feeling of accomplishment. The responsibility was what moved me, especially with the challenges which came from the dam break during the two years which I led the company. I am certain that Samarco will return to operations and will create new jobs and help develop the communities in the states of Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo,” Roberto said.
