BHP, Vale offer $38 billion settlement for Samarco disaster
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The news: BHP, Vale and their joint venture Samarco have presented Brazilian authorities with a fresh settlement proposal related to reparations for the 2015 tailings dam collapse in the country.
The numbers: The mining companies have outlined a total payment of 127 billion Brazilian reais ($38 billion), including 37 billion reais already disbursed.
Of the remaining amount, 72 billion reais is proposed to be paid to Brazil’s federal and local governments over a period, while 18 billion reais would be used to settle future obligations, Reuters reported, citing a securities filing by Vale. Local prosecutors are seeking total compensation of 137 billion reais.
The context: The 2015 collapse of the Fundao dam in southeastern Brazil, owned by the Samarco venture, killed 19 people and caused a giant mudslide that uprooted homes and villages and triggered Brazil's worst environmental disaster.
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 has previously said it expected to reach a final agreement regarding the collapse of the dam by the end of the first half of 2024.
The sources: Reuters, ASX announcement
