AUST Business today (Extract): BHP OFFERS $44BN TO SETTLE DAM...

AUST Business today (Extract):
BHP OFFERS $44BN TO SETTLE DAM COMPO

Brad Thompson
BHP appears days away from a breakthrough deal with Brazilian authorities after making a new 170 billion Brazilian reais ($44.5bn) settlement offer over the 2015 Samarco dam collapse.
The new offer from iron ore miners BHP and Vale comes after years of negotiation over a suitable compensation package for the tragedy near Mariana.
Reports from Brazil suggested a deal could be signed next Friday, days after the start of a separate class action in Britain that involves about 650,000 Brazilian claimants.
BHP and Vale said they were in talks with Brazilian federal and state authorities and public prosecutors on the latest iteration of the settlement offer, which is about 34 per cent higher than one lobbed in April.
The failure of the tailings dam at an iron ore mine owned by the BHP-Vale joint venture Samarco almost nine years ago killed 19 people, left hundreds homeless and had a disastrous impact on forests and the river systems.
Under the latest settlement offer, the miners said 100 billion reais would be paid directly to public authorities over 20 years.
Another 32 billion reais would be in remediation and compensation measures.
The offer includes 38 billion reais already spent on remediation and compensation measures since 2016. Samarco would offer 30,000 reais per person to individuals and small businesses hit by the dam collapse and 13,000 reais per person for water damage to homes.
BHP said any settlement in Brazil would not resolve the British class action, or similar legal claims in Australia and in The Netherlands.
Nor would a settlement spell the end of criminal charges against Samarco, BHP Brasil, Vale and some individuals.
However, a settlement could lessen BHP and Vale’s exposure to any adverse ruling in the British case and reduce the number of claimants seeking up to $70bn in total.……