Reuters | April 29, 2024
The collapse of the Fundao tailings dam in 2015 killed 19 people and polluted hundreds of miles of rivers. (Image: Agência Brasil Fotografias).
Vale, BHP and their joint venture Samarco have presented Brazilian authorities with a settlement proposal related to reparations for the 2015 Mariana tailings dam burst, which killed 19 people and left hundreds homeless.
The proposal foresees a total payment of 127 billion reais ($24.88 billion), including 37 billion reais already disbursed, the Brazilian mining giant said in a securities filing on Monday.
The dam collapse at the Samarco iron ore mine near the town of Mariana in Brazil’s southeastern state of Minas Gerais caused a vast flow of mud and mining waste that buried a nearby village and polluted a major river in November 2015.
Of the remaining amount the companies proposed to disburse, 72 billion reais would be paid to the federal and local governments over an undisclosed period, Vale said. Some 18 billion reais would be used to settle future obligations.
Vale had previously said that it expected to reach a final agreement regarding the collapse of the dam by the end of the first half of 2024.
“The companies and authorities remain committed to advancing negotiations and approving a definitive agreement,” Vale said. “The proposal is intended to provide a mutually beneficial resolution for all parties.”
Vale and BHP struck an initial deal over the disaster in 2016 which created a foundation to implement reparations but had a complicated chronology for payments and left space for a final definitive agreement.
Vale said that as of March 2024, 17 billion reais had been paid to more than 430,000 people and about 85% of the resettlement cases for the communities affected had been completed.
($1 = 5.1037 reais)
(Reporting by Peter Frontini; Editing by Gabriel Araujo and Louise Heavens)
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