(Alliance News) - BHP Group Ltd on Monday said a Brazilian state court has ratified the judicial reorganisation plan of Samarco Mineracao SA, relating to the 2015 Mariana dam disaster.
Samarco Mineracao is a 50-50 joint venture of BHP and Brazilian iron ore miner Vale SA.
After the ratification by the Second Business Court of Belo Horizonte of Brazil's state of Minas Gerais, the Anglo-Australian mining company plans to include Samarco into definitive debt restructure agreements with its creditors to implement debt restructure.
The reorganisation is an insolvency proceeding in Brazil.
"Samarco's existing financial debt will be exchanged for up to USD3.7 billion of long-term unsecured debt," BHP explained.
Under the terms of the judicial reorganisation plan, Samarco's funding of the Renova foundation will be capped at USD1 billion for the time between 2024 and 2030. The foundation was founded in 2016 to repair and compensate for the damages caused by the breach of the Fundao Dam in Minas Gerais in November 2015.
In March, a damages claim faced by global mining firm BHP over the deadly dam collapse had risen to an estimated GBP36 billion. In July 2022, the company had lost a USD5 billion appeal in a London court case over the 2015 Samarco dam failure.
BHP shares were up 2.1% to 2,352.50 pence each on Monday morning in London, while they were up 2.2% at ZAR558.43 each in Johannesburg.
By Tom Budszus, Alliance News reporter
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