Brazilian pellet producer Samarco, a 50/50 joint venture (JV) between Vale and BHP Billiton, is unlikely to resume operations in 2019, a top executive told local media Valor.
Bryan Quinn, who is responsible for BHP Billiton’s mineral joint ventures, said negotiating a restructuring of Samarco’s debt is the first step to make the company’s restart feasible. Samarco did not respond to a request for comment, but it has already confirmed Quinn’s comments in a media report from Reuters.
Samarco halted operations in November 2015, following a deadline iron ore waste dam burst, which killed 19 people. The company offered various forecasts to resume operations, and more recently, has refused to provide an exact timeline.
A Samarco spokeswoman told SteelOrbis recently Samarco expects to get pending licenses by 2019.