14th Nov 2024 16:26
(Alliance News) - BHP Group Ltd on Thursday indicated that it has not seen a ruling by a Brazilian court dropping criminal charges linked the Fundao dam failure.
The Melbourne-based diversified miner noted media reports suggesting that the Lower Federal Court of Ponte Nova, Minas Gerais, has ruled that Samarco Mineracao SA and 50-50 joint venture owners BHP and Vale SA are not liable for criminal offences linked to the tailings dam collapse.
The federal court said that there was no conclusive evidence that "individual behavior contributed directly and decisively to the collapse of the dam," according to the ruling seen by AFP.
The Federal Prosecutors' Office in Brazil on in October 2016 filed criminal charges against Samarco, BHP and Vale and certain individuals affiliated with the companies in the federal court.
BHP said on Thursday it will consider the decision by the federal court once it has been served with the judgement to "assess implications and any next steps".
Late last month, BHP and Vale reached an agreement with Brazilian authorities that would see the two mining groups pay BRL170 billion, or USD31.7 billion, related to the dam disaster in 2015.
BHP said at the time the financial value of the agreement provided reparation for the impacts of the dam failure that will be delivered to the people, communities and environment.
Shares in BHP fell 0.5% to 2,048.00 pence each on Thursday afternoon in London, while they rose 0.7% to ZAR475.72 each in Johannesburg.
By Artwell Dlamini, Alliance News reporter
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