BHP nears £24bn settlement in Brazil for Samarco dam disaster

Miners BHP and Vale are negotiating a possible settlement worth roughly $31.7bn (£24.32bn) with Brazilian authorities over a 2015 dam failure that is considered one of the country’s worst environmental disasters.

BHP said on Monday that the negotiations were ongoing and no final agreement on the settlement had been reached.

The current proposal, which is being discussed, would return around $31.7bn (£24.32bn) to the people, communities, and environment impacted by the dam failure.

BHP added that the settlement is expected to resolve all existing claims by Brazil’s public authorities regarding the catastrophe.

The negotiations come as BHP prepares for one of England’s biggest ever lawsuits, which is set to begin at the High Court on Monday.

BHP, the world’s biggest miner by market value, is being sued by more than 600,000 Brazilians, 46 local governments and around 2,000 businesses. Claimants are seeking up to £36bn in damages.

BHP is contesting liability and argues the UK lawsuit duplicates legal proceedings and reparation and repair programmes in Brazil.

The Fundão dam in southeastern Brazil, owned and operated by BHP and Vale’s Samarco joint venture, collapsed on 5 November 2015.

The dam was holding back mining waste, known as “tailings”, and unleashed a deluge of thick, red toxic mud that wiped out the village of Bento Rodrigues. It killed 19 people.

In 2018, London-based law firm Pogust Goodhead launched a group lawsuit in England against the dam’s owners on behalf of people affected by the disaster.

The case has been in and out of the courts over the past four years, with the mining companies arguing against it being heard in an English court.

In 2020, the High Court ruled in favour of BHP and struck out the group action as an abuse of process, citing, among other things, its sheer size.

However, the Court of Appeal overturned this ruling in 2022 after it ruled the findings of abuse were unsustainable.

Last year, BHP applied to the Supreme Court for permission to appeal the Court of Appeal’s decision but was denied the right to have its case heard.

The London trial starting on Monday will be in court for 12 weeks and conclude on 5 March 2025, accounting for court closures during Christmas.

BHP’s legal fees have already surpassed £100m.