projects. Anglo American, along with De Beers, backed the manufacturing of a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) to help improve the sensitivity of exploration surveys. Anglo American established Boart Products South Africa Limited in 1936 (later named Boart International) to turn the company's stockpile of boart, or low-grade natural diamonds, into drilling products. This initiative resulted in the development of the first mechanically set diamond drill bit and later led to additional research into cutting and abrasive tools. In December 2010, following delays and high costs, Anglo American gained a key licence from the Brazilian government that would allow work to start on the Minas-Rio iron ore project. Production is initially expected to be 26.5 million tonnes per year; iron ore would be sent through a 525 km slurry pipeline to the Port of Açu. As of October 2014, Minas-Rio is operational and shipping ore. In July 2018, Anglo American announced that it would spend $5.3 billion on developing the Quellaveco copper mine in Peru, which the company acquired in 1992, with the Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi funding 40% of the total cost. As part of the project, Anglo American also committed 650 million soles ($195 million) towards local community developments projects in Moquegua, where the Quellaveco mine is located. Controversies Toxic waste In October 2020, Anglo American was accused of being responsible for lead poisoning in possibly over 100,000 people. According to the lawyers, the claimants, principally young children, were suffering from high levels of lead poisoning. They claim the lead originated from the smelter, ore processing, and tailings dumps of the Kabwe mine in Zambia, which Anglo American South Africa had managed before the mine was nationalized in 1974. “Generations of children have been poisoned by the operations of the Kabwe mine, originally known as Broken Hill, which caused widespread contamination of the soil, dust, water and vegetation,” said the lawyers. Anglo American denies these allegations and has accused its successor ZCCM, which operated the mine after its nationalization in 1974. The class action certification hearing was held in February 2023 at the High Court of South Africa's Johannesburg branch. In 2013, the companies involved in the Cerrejón coal mine in Colombia, were accused of increasing illness in approximately 13,000 people living close to the mine. Anglo American was also accused of failing to compensate people who had been displaced by its expansion. In September 2020, a UN human