Miners offer $25bn for Mariana disaster reparations

Sao Paulo — 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 ($24.88bn), 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 on 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 it had a complicated chronology for payments and left space for a final definitive agreement.

Vale said that as of March, 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

Reuters