By Paulo Trevisani

BRASILIA--Brazil's Vale SA (VALE3.BR), the world's largest iron ore miner, said Friday it is removing 500 residents from a rural town near a dam containing mining waste in Minas Gerais state.

The company said in a statement the move was ordered by the country's mining regulator ANM after a local consulting company refused to corroborate the safety of the dam.

The dam, known as Sul Superior in the Gongo Soco mine, is an upstream type of structure, deemed by many experts as the least safe but less costly way of storing mining waste.

A Vale spokeswoman said the mine was active but no tailings were being added to the dam.

The evacuation comes two weeks after another Vale dam burst in Brumadinho town, also in Minas Gerais state, spewing a wall of mud from which 157 bodies have been recovered. Some 200 people are missing and feared dead.

Vale said it is increasing inspections in the dam and bringing in foreign experts to "re-evaluate the situation."

Write to Paulo Trevisani at paulo.trevisani@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 08, 2019 05:35 ET (10:35 GMT)