Vale-BHP mine disaster deal moves closer to settlement in Brazil
The Bento Rodigues district was covered in mud after a dam burst in November 2015.
Miners Vale and BHP are a step closer to finalising a deal with Brazilian authorities to provide a multibillion-dollar settlement for one of the country’s worst mining disasters.
Ongoing negotiations that also involve Vale-BHP’s iron-ore joint venture, Samarco, point to a total deal valued at about 170-billion reais ($30-billion) as settlement for the 2015 disaster, Vale said Friday in a filing. That includes 100-billion reais in compensation to be paid over 20 years to Brazil’s federal government, the states of Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo as well as affected municipalities, the filing said.
The latest development comes more than eight years after a tailings dam collapsed at Samarco’s mine in southeastern Brazil, unleashing a torrent of waste that killed as many as 19 people and contaminated waterways in the two states.
The settlement will include the 38-billion reais already spent in compensation measures during the last few years, along with 32-billion reais for obligations including initiatives for resettlement and environmental recovery, Vale’s filing said. BHP issued a similar statement on Friday, after Brazilian media reported that a final deal could be signed by October 25.
Meanwhile, BHP is set to face a trial in a parallel UK class action lawsuit involving as many as 620,000 people impacted by Samarco mine disaster, starting next week. The approach of the trial has increased the rush by the mining companies to resolve the case in Brazil, as deal may impact the size and scope of the UK litigation.
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