Dow Jones reported that Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais has begun the process of recovering the contaminated site for its planned iron ore export port in Rio de Janeiro State.

The BRR 40 million project involves removing heavy metals from a former industrial site in an area near Itaguai. The site has a reported 3 million tonnes of liquid toxic waste and 5 million tonnes of solid wastes.

Usiminas bought the deep water site for BRR 72 million in June 2007. Usiminas said that it planned to build a port to ship 25 million tonnes of iron ore a year, with operations starting up at the end of 2013 or in early 2014.

The area already has two major iron ore export terminals, at Mangaratiba and Itaguai, and is adjacent to ThyssenKrupp AG's giant CSA steel mill, now under construction. Three other iron ore export terminals are planned for the area to be built by Gerdau, LLX Logistica and Companhia Siderurgica Nacional.

(Sourced from www.dowjones.com)