BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Brazilian

miner Vale expects that by 2030 some 10% of its iron

ore output will come from the reuse of mine waste known as

tailings, an executive told Reuters, reducing the amount of

potentially dangerous material still stored in dams.

In 2024, the mining giant expects to recover about 7 million

metric tons of iron ore through its "circular mining" program,

Vale's executive vice president of technical affairs, Rafael

Bittar, said in an interview on Wednesday.

He did not provide specific projections for how much iron

ore will be produced from tailings and waste by 2030, but the

expected increase in Vale's overall production implies the

volume will likely jump in coming years.

The firm, one of the world's largest iron ore producers, on

Wednesday revised its 2024 outlook upwards and now expects to

produce up to 330 million tons this year. From 2030 onwards, it

sees annual output of more than 360 million tons.

"This program aims to reuse waste that is already in our

dams," Bittar said on the sidelines of a mining conference.

"This is a reality and it will come very strongly (for the

industry), so we anticipated it and designed this program."

Vale's initiative to reduce its tailing volumes gained

ground after the fatal collapse of two dams in Mariana and

Brumadinho in 2015 and 2019, respectively, which jointly killed

hundreds and caused severe environmental damages.

Part of Vale's tailings are stored in dams. Since the

disasters, the firm has been working to eliminate all its

upstream dams, which are seen as riskier.

Last year alone, Vale generated 48.5 million tons of iron

ore tailings.