Mining Giants Propose New $26 Billion Settlement for 2015 Mariana Disaster

Mining giants Vale and BHP, along with their joint venture Samarco, have presented a new proposal to Brazilian authorities to settle reparations over the 2015 Mariana disaster. The new offer totals 140 billion reais ($26.09 billion), exceeding previous offers. The disaster resulted in significant destruction, including loss of life and environmental damage.

Mining giants Vale and BHP and their joint venture Samarco have presented Brazilian authorities with a new offer to settle reparations over the 2015 Mariana disaster, Vale said in a securities filing on Wednesday.

The new proposal totals 140 billion reais ($26.09 billion), including 37 billion reais already disbursed in reparation measures, Vale said, confirming an earlier report from local newspaper O Globo. The fresh offer is 13 billion reais higher than a previous one rejected by the Brazilian government.

It comes as authorities last week said they had presented the firms with a counteroffer seeking 109 billion reais, not including the amount already spent by the miners. The collapse of a tailings dam at a Samarco iron ore mine near Mariana in Minas Gerais state in November 2015 created a vast flow of mud and mining waste that buried a nearby village, killing 19 people, leaving hundreds homeless and polluting the Doce River.

($1 = 5.3656 reais)