Samarco is jointly owned by two mining giants, Vale of Brazil and BHP Billiton of Australia.
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People living around the dam were instructed to evacuate and seek safety on higher ground.
The Civil Defence agency of Minas Gerais state said one body had been recovered but officials had yet to determine how many people were missing.
Witnesses told local media that the town of Bento Rodrigues, with a population of 620 people, has been completely flooded by mud.
The dam was holding so-called tailings, a mining waste product of metal filings, water and occasionally chemicals.
Television images showed a torrent of thick red mud several hundreds of metres (yards) long that had swamped houses and ripped off their roofs in the central western state of Minas Gerais. Authorities confirmed at least one death – and said an unknown number of other people were missing.
The company said it was “not possible, at this time, to confirm the causes and extent of what has occurred”.
Although the details from the miner were brief, various media reports are saying that a dam holding back water waste from the Germano mine had burst.
Police, firefighters and local officials said they could not confirm any reported death tolls or victims.
The dam burst near a working mine in a rural area located about 300 kilometers (185 miles) from Rio de Janeiro, AP reported, citing a statement published by the city hall of Mariana.
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In a statement, Samarco said it was “mobilizing every effort to prioritize care for the people and to mitigate the environmental damage” of the accident. Iron ore is transported down a slurry pipe from Germano to Espirito Santo, where it is turned into pellets. Samarco produces around 30 million tonnes per year, according to its website.
