BHP-Vale dam disaster mine resumes production
Five years after a deadly dam collapse, the Brazil iron ore operation jointly run by BHP and Vale has resumed production.
Five years after it was shut down following a devastating tailings dam collapse, a Brazilian iron ore operation jointly owned by BHP and Vale has resumed production.
BHP says the Samarco joint venture has resumed iron ore pellet production after meeting the licensing requirements to restart operations suspended in the wake of the waste dam collapse in November, 2015.
BHP shares were up 1.9 per cent in early trade.
The collapse of the Fundao tailings dam killed 19 people and poured about 40 million tonnes of mine waste into Brazilian rivers, causing environmental and economic chaos for local communities.
BHP said the joint venture Samarco Mineração expects initially to produce roughly eight million tonnes of the steelmaking commodity a year.
The mining giant says the move follows independent tests on Samarco’s preparations for a safe restart.
BHP says “extensive” work continues by the Renova Foundation to remediate and compensate for the damage caused by the dam collapse, with its support.
By November 2020, Renova had spent about $US2.1bn on remediation and compensation programs, and about $US620m had been paid in indemnities and emergency financial aid to about 325,000 people, BHP said.
The legal consequences for BHP remain, however.
Early this month BHP lost a legal bid to restrict non-Australian shareholders from joining a class-action lawsuit in the Federal Court over the dam collapse.
BHP lost $25bn in market value following the disaster, with shares diving across global markets. The class action is seeking to recover losses suffered by tens of thousands of shareholders.
Last month, a British court struck out at $9bn lawsuit against BHP, dealing a blow to a claimant group of 200,000 Brazilians seeking damages after the disaster.
The court action accused the mining giant of neglecting safety warnings and of ignoring early signs of rupture to the dam.
A High Court judge in Manchester rejected a bid to run the case in British courts, calling it an “abuse of the process of the court”.
BHP said the decision reinforced its view that victims should pursue claims in Brazil and that the case duplicated ongoing work and legal proceedings there.
But the claimants pledged to continue to pursue BHP for damages.
