Brazil orders Vale, BHP and Samarco to pay $9.7bn in damages for dam disaster
A Brazilian federal judge ruled that miners Vale and BHP and their joint venture Samarco must pay 47.6-billion reais ($9.67-billion) in damages for a 2015 tailings dam burst, according to a legal decision on Thursday seen by Reuters.
Vale and BHP said in separate statements they were not informed by the judiciary about the decision. Samarco declined to comment.