BHP Billiton, along with Vale, has been charged with an initial fine of 250 million reais (AU$93 million) for the twin dam burst in south-eastern Brazil that killed nine people and washed off two states.
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Samarco, jointly owned by Brazil’s Vale SA and Australia’s BHP Billiton Ltd., signed a “preliminary commitment” to “guarantee funding for a range of emergency measures including prevention, mitigation, remediation and compensation for environmental and social effects of the incident”, BHP said in a statement. Water utilities in towns and cities in Minas Gerais and the neighboring state of Espirito Santo have suspended siphoning water from the river as the red tide has surged upstream, killing fish, turtles and other aquatic life.
Plans are underway to reinforce dam structures at the Samarco mine in Brazil following the deadly collapse of two dams, BHP Billiton boss Andrew Mackenzie says. The compensation package, which Samarco can negotiate, would provide aid to victims of the disaster and fund environmental restoration work, prosecutor Guilherme de Sa Meneghin said in an interview last week.
“That is the kind of arrangement we need to review and have been reviewing, to be honest, to decide not just the perspective of our shareholders, but the shareholders of the companies who are partners to that joint venture and whether a more petroleum-type model might be more appropriate in the future”, Mackenzie said.
The Cerrejón coal mine is owned equally by BHP, Anglo American and Glencore, while BHP and Glencore each have 33.75 per cent stake in Antamina, while Teck Resources holds 22.5 per cent and Mitsubishi Corp 10 per cent.
“We offer our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of those who have died as a result of this tragic incident”, the statement said.
BHP and Vale are braced for costs from the accident to mount. Deutsche Bank has suggested that the overall clean-up cost could top $1bn.
BHP’s shares have fallen by around 20pc since news of the accident broke, to trade around 877p.
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BHP rose 0.9 percent, the most since November 4, to A$20.27 at 10.19am in Sydney trading, as rivals Rio Tinto Group advanced 1.2 percent and Fortescue Metals Group rose 2 percent.
