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(Alliance NEWS) - BHP Group Ltd on Wednesday noted further claimants regarding to the 2015 Fundao dam collapse.
The damages claimed against Melbourne, Australia-based BHP amounted to an estimated GBP36 billion, legal firm Pogust Goodhead said Wednesday.
While it was formerly estimated that up to 400,000 claimants could join the claim against the global miner, this has now increased to over 700,000.
The trial at the High Court in London is set to start in April 2024.
BHP on Wednesday said it will continue to defend proceedings in England, which it said it believes are "unnecessary" because they "duplicate matters already covered by the existing and ongoing work of the Renova Foundation and legal proceedings in Brazil."
"All claimants have avenues in Brazil to resolve any potential claims including avenues established through the Brazilian Courts," it said.
The company added that it remained fully committed to support the ongoing remediation and compensation efforts in Brazil through the Renova foundation, including over around USD2.6 billion paid to about 410,000 people. It said that 70% of the resettlement cases for the communities impacted by the dam collapse have been completed.
AFP on Wednesday reported that the estimated GBP36 billion claimed would be the world's largest-ever claim in relation to an environmental disaster, more than the combined total paid by Volkswagen AG over Dieselgate and BP PLC over Deepwater Horizon.
At the 2015 rupture of an iron ore tailings dam in the Minas Gerais region in Brazil, hundreds of miles of river were polluted, 19 people died and 39 towns were flooded.
BHP shares closed 3.5% lower at 2,420.00 pence each on Wednesday afternoon in London, while they closed 2.6% lower at ZAR533.76 each in Johannesburg.
By Tom Budszus, Alliance News reporter
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