Vale-BHP mine disaster deal moves closer to settlement in Brazil

Miners Vale and BHP are a step closer to finalising a deal with Brazilian authorities to provide a multibillion-dollar settlement for one of the country’s worst mining disasters.

Ongoing negotiations that also involve Vale-BHP’s iron-ore joint venture, Samarco, point to a total deal valued at about 170-billion reais ($30-billion) as settlement for the 2015 disaster, Vale said Friday in a filing. That includes 100-billion reais in compensation to be paid over 20 years to Brazil’s federal government, the states of Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo as well as affected municipalities, the filing said.