BHP Billiton plc (LON:BLT) has agreed to pay US$211mln to the Renova Foundation, which was set up to support victims of the Samarco mining disaster in Brazil.
In November 2015, a dam at the Samarco mine co-owned by BHP and Brazilian company Vale burst, leaving 19 people dead and destroying two villages.
Of the total financial support BHP is to provide the Renova Foundation, US$158mln will go towards funding remediation and compensation programmes identified under an agreement with Brazilian authorities.
This will be offset against BHP’s provision for the dam failure.
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The rest of the payment will be used to carry out ongoing repair works, maintain Samarco’s facilities and support restart planning.
On Wednesday, BHP and Vale struck a deal with Brazilian authorities to settle a lawsuit related to the disaster.
The miners have signed an agreement to suspend a 155 billion real civil claim for two years and scrap a separate 20bn real claim brought by the state government.
The deal paves the way for BHP and Vale to restructure Samarco and re-apply for a licence to resume work at the site.