BHP, a mining company, has stated that it is hoping to receive a settlement of $25.7bn, or £20bn, for the Samarco disaster of 2015, which saw the collapse of the dam leave at least 19 dead and 700 homeless, and spread unprecedented pollution throughout the rivers and landscape in Brazil.
BHP announced that it had made the settlement offer to Brazilian authorities with Vale, a fellow miner and its 50:50 joint-venture partner in Samarco, a local subsidiary.
Fundao Dam, owned by Samarco , collapsed on the 5th November 2015. This caused a torrent of mining waste to be released near Mariana in Minas Gerais, Brazil.
The accident led to a series of lawsuits against BHP – the Australian mining firm that had its main stock exchange listing in London during the time of disaster.
The world’s biggest mining company announced that it had submitted a proposal with Vale worth a total 127 billion Brazilian reals (£19,9 billion ), though some of this sum has been paid.
According to the proposal, both companies agreed to pay $14.4bn to the Brazilian government over a period of 10 years.
The Renova Foundation was established in the aftermath of the disaster and will also be funding an additional $3.6bn for compensations and cleanup efforts.
The foundation has spent the remaining $7.7bn of the settlement. This includes $3.5bn which has been directly distributed to 430,000 people affected by the settlement.
BHP and Vale’s proposal would combine existing agreements with Brazilian Authorities with outstanding claims from various government agencies in a single settlement.
BHP, world’s biggest mining company, will move its primary stock exchange listing to Australia by 2022.
At the time of the accident, its main listing was London where protestors HTML0
They demanded greater compensation for the disaster which unleashed a spill of mining waste known as tailings, the largest in history.
BHP has announced its proposal to investors following speculation in the Brazilian media.
The statement read: “The parties are still negotiating and there has not been a final agreement on the amount or terms of the settlement.”
Anglo American , a London-listed miner, rejected’s “highly inattractive” £31bn bid from BHP last week.