BHP Billiton, Vale and Samarco have reached an agreement to provisionally extend the deadline to settle the Samarco dam case, BHP Billiton said on Tuesday.
BHP Billiton said the three parties reached a deal with the country’s federal prosecutors to extend the deadline for an agreement to November 16 this year. An agreement was expected on October 30.
The deal to extend the timeline involves a BRL 155 billion ($47.2 billion) lawsuit over the dam failure, and an additional BRL 20 billion ($6.10 billion) public civil lawsuit also related to the case.
“The preliminary agreement also provides for the appointment of experts to advise the federal prosecutors in relation to the environmental and socioeconomic impact assessment, and the negotiation of the settlement of the public civil claims,” BHP Billiton noted.
The agreement also suspends a BRL 1.2 billion ($426.9 million) injunction order under the BRL 20 billion lawsuit, and requests suspension of that claim, BHP Billiton said.