Dam collapse in Brazil

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/may/03/brazil-iron-mine-samarco-fined-disaster
Federal prosecutors in Brazil have filed a 155bn-real ($43.5bn) civil lawsuit against iron miner Samarco, and its owners Vale SA and BHP Billiton ...

The lawsuit, which is also against the two states impacted by the spill and the federal government, is the result of a six-month investigation led by a task force set up after the disaster, prosecutors said in a statement.

Vale said it had not been notified of the suit and was therefore unable to comment. BHP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The total damages, they said, were calculated based upon the cost of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the United States. BP’s total pre-tax charge for that spill reached $53.8bn.

Prosecutors demanded an initial payment of 7.7bn reais.

The civil action is separate from the lawsuit that Samarco, Vale and BHP settled with Brazil’s government in March in which the companies would pay an estimated 20bn reais for damage caused by the spill. Federal and state prosecutors did not form part of that settlement.

see also http://www.smh.com.au/business/mining-and-resources/brazil-files-new-us43b-lawsuit-v-valebhps-samarco-20160503-goljul.html
Brazil files new $58b lawsuit versus Vale-BHP's Samarco

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2016/08/brazil-river-mud-160818081002569.html
Our first discovery was that the company operating Fundao, Samarco, is co-owned by mining giant Vale, the fifth largest campaign donor to Brazilian politicians. This wasn't illegal under Brazilian law, until last year when the Supreme Court banned future corporate donations to politicians and political parties, but it made us question what mining companies had been receiving in return for their generosity.
...
At present the Minas Gerais state mining authority, which is responsible for conducting dam inspections, only has four employees to cover 400 mining dams. As each dam takes 10 months to assess, it’s easy to see the deep flaws in this system of government oversight. And of those dams that have been inspected, many more are categorized as unsafe. Yet mining companies are allowed to continue operating with little or no apparent intervention from the government and despite the considerable risks to nearby communities; communities like the town of Bento Rodrigues which was completely destroyed by the Fundao dam collapse.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/08/16/investing/bhp-billiton-record-loss/
The world's largest mining company has posted a record loss after being slammed by low commodity prices and fallout from a deadly Brazilian dam collapse.

Anglo-Australian miner BHP Billiton (BBL) said Tuesday that it lost $6.4 billion in the 12 months ended June -- the worst annual performance in company history.

The two companies reached a settlement with the Brazilian government to pay up to 24 billion reais ($7.5 billion) over the disaster, but Brazil's federal prosecutors have also filed a civil lawsuit seeking additional 155 billion reais ($44 billion) in damages.

BHP has dismissed the claim, saying its original settlement should be sufficient.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37218145
see also report at http://www.bhpbilliton.com/investors/news/samarco-update-2
Samarco dam failure in Brazil 'caused by design flaws'
The deadly collapse of a dam at the Samarco mine in Brazil was due to design flaws, according to a report.

The Fundao dam-burst disaster caused a huge mudslide which killed 19 people and polluted a river.

The technical report, commissioned by Samarco's joint owners BHP Billiton and Vale, did not assign blame for the disaster.

A separate police investigation has accused iron miner Samarco of wilful misconduct, which the firm denies.

Dams holding mining waste, known as "tailings", commonly have walls made of a mixture of sand-like particles and clay-like silt.

The report said that a change in the Fundao dam's design between 2011 and 2012 led to less efficient water drainage, and ultimately to the dam's collapse in November 2015.

In a statement, Dean Dalla Valle, BHP Billiton's chief commercial officer, said the dam failure had "a devastating impact."

"In November 2015, BHP Billiton committed to making the findings of this investigation public, and we are determined to learn from this tragedy," Mr Dalla Valle said.

BHP Billiton said it had reviewed 10 of its biggest tailings dams and found they were stable, but was taking steps to improve risk management.

The disaster has already cost BHP Billiton about $2.2bn, including a total write-off of its investment in Samarco, due to uncertainty over when the mine will reopen.

The figure also includes funds for its share of agreed compensation and damages.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/mining-and-resources/bhps-disasterhit--brazilian-mine-may-not-reopen-20161015-gs3aaz.html
The future of BHP Billiton's Samarco iron ore mine in Brazil has been thrown into doubt after the mining giant admitted for the first time that it cannot guarantee that it will be reopened.

The mine has been closed since November last year when a tailings dam collapsed, deluging the surrounding area with a tidal wave of mud that killed 19 people and flattened two towns.

BHP, which co-owns Samarco with Brazilian mining giant Vale, is expected to face uncomfortable questions about the disaster at its London AGM next week, ahead of the one-year anniversary of the dam's collapse.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37723057
Brazilian prosecutors have filed homicide charges against 21 people a year after an iron ore mine disaster in the state of Minas Gerais.

They include several Brazilians, two Americans, a South African, an Australian, a Briton and a French man.

The accused were employed at the time by the companies involved - Brazil's Samarco and Vale, and BHP Billiton.

In November 2015 a mine dam burst, killing 19 people and polluting miles of Brazil's waterways.

According to the lead prosecutor in the case, Jose Leite Sampaio, the companies were aware there was a risk of collapse but ignored it. They immediately rejected the charges and said they would defend their staff.

Mr Sampaio accused Brazilian mining company Vale, Anglo-Australian giant BHP Billiton and iron ore producer Samarco, which they co-own, of pursuing profits rather than attending to safety.

"Security was always of secondary importance. The increase in production at Samarco sought to compensate for the falling value of the ore in order, not only to maintain, but also to boost profits and dividends," Mr Sampaio said in a televised news conference near the site of the disaster.