SAO PAULO, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Brazilian miner Vale

said on Thursday it will invest 67 billion reais

($12.36 billion) in its mining operations in Minas Gerais state

by 2030, as it held a ceremony to mark the reopening of a key

mine in the city of Ouro Preto.

Most of the investments will be focused on solutions to

expand filtering and dry sacking of iron ore tailings, Vale said

in a statement, as it seeks to reduce the use of dams in its

local operations to 20% from 30%.

The miner on Thursday reopened its Capanema iron ore mine,

which had been inactive for 22 years and will now operate

without using water in processing, generating no tailings and

removing the need for dams.