BHP reaches $50m settlement in US lawsuit
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mining major BHP has reached a $50-million settlement on a class action filed in the US District Court in New York regarding the Samarco dam failure, in 2015.
The settlement comes with no admission of liability from the miner, and was still subject to approval by the District Court.
The class action was initially filed on behalf of purchasers of American Depositary Receipts of BHP between September 25, 2014 and November 30, 2015.
The Samarco dam failure, in Brazil, claimed the lives of 19 people in the Minas Gerais region, flooding three communities and leaving a number of people destitute.
BHP is currently also facing a class action in the Federal Court of Australia, in Victoria, relating to the dam failure, with some 3 000 investors reportedly signed up to participate in the legal action alleging that the company breached disclosure obligations and engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct.
Meanwhile, BHP on Thursday also reported that the Federal Court of Minas Gerais has formally ratified an earlier an earlier governance agreement entered into in June that settles a BRL20-billion civil claim, enhances community participation in decision relating to the remdiation action and compensation programmes, and establishes a process to renegotiate those programmes over a two-year period, while also progressing the settlement of the BRL155-billion civil claim.
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