“BHP, Vale agree deal over 2015 Brazil dam collapse proceedings in UK”, 12 July 24

Mining giant BHP said…it had reached a deal with Brazilian peer Vale to split equally the cost of any damages related to proceedings in Britain over a 2015 dam collapse in Brazil that killed 19 people, while denying liability for related claims.

BHP Group (UK) Ltd and its Anglo-Australian parent BHP are defendants in a group action claim in the English High Court, brought by more than 600,000 claimants seeking damages for the Fundao Dam failure...

BHP and Vale will each pay 50% of any amount potentially payable to the claimants in the UK proceedings, the Netherlands proceedings, and others in Brazil covered in the agreement...

"BHP believes the English Proceedings are unnecessary because they duplicate matters already covered by the existing and ongoing work of the Renova Foundation and legal proceedings in Brazil," the company said.

BHP will continue to defend the UK proceedings and does not consider that it is liable to the related claimants, it added…

Since the UK proceedings were not brought against Vale, BHP had filed a contribution claim against Vale in December 2022, which has now been withdrawn due to the new agreement.

"The effect of the agreement is that should BHP ultimately be found to have any liability to the claimants in the UK claims, or should Vale ultimately be found to have any liability to the claimants in the Netherlands, such liability would be shared equally between BHP and Vale," Vale said in a separate statement.

Pogust Goodhead, a UK-based law firm which represents the claimants, said despite the agreement between the two miners, nothing changes for its clients taking action against the mining companies in England and the Netherlands.