BHP Group Ltd (LSE:BHP, ASX:BHP) and its Brazilian partner Vale have been ordered to pay US$9.7 billion (R47.6 billion) in compensation for the Samarco disaster in 2015.
Nineteen people were killed after the tailings dam at the mine failed, flooding vast areas of Minas Gerais state with contaminated mud and polluting lakes and rivers to the sea.
A federal court in Brazil ruled that Samarco, the joint venture company owned by BHP and Vale that ran the mine, was liable for “moral damages” and emotional distress caused to victims and people in the areas affected.
Public prosecutors had claimed original compensation of R155 billion (US$31.5 billion).
Vale said it was aware of the judgement and that there was the option to appeal, though BHP and Samarco have yet to comment.
In 2016, both companies agreed to fund a not-for-profit group, Renova, that was set up to repair and restore areas damaged in the disaster that thus far has paid out around US$7 billion.