Miners Vale and BHP, and their joint venture Samarco, have presented Brazilian authorities with a new offer to settle reparations for a tailings dam collapse in 2015, reported Reuters.
The new proposal totals 140 billion reais (US$26.09 billion), including 37 billion reais already disbursed in reparation measures, Vale said in a securities filing. It is 13 billion reais higher than the previous offer that was rejected by Brazil, but did not meet the 109 billion sought by the government.
The miners have instead offered 82 billion reais to be paid to the federal government and the impacted Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo states over 20 years, and 21 billion reais to be used for settling future obligations.
The news agency noted that Brazilian authorities were seeking a 12-year period for the payments to be made.
The dam collapse at a Samarco iron ore mine near Mariana, Minas Gerais 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.
Source: Reuters