Samarco unlikely to reopen this year – BHP Billiton

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Samarco iron-ore operation, in Brazil, was unlikely to reopen this calendar year and the workforce would be adjusted to reflect reduced production, 50%-owner BHP Billiton reported on Thursday.

The company, which owned Samarco in a partnership with fellow iron-ore major Vale, reported that clean-up activities continued following the November 2015 fatal dam collapse, which killed 19 people and left BHP and Vale with a major civil claim.

BHP Billiton said Samarco was unlikely to have in place the necessary approvals to restart its operations this year. “Samarco’s operations will restart only when it is safe to do so, and when all regulatory approvals are granted and accepted by the relevant authorities and communities,” the miner said in a statement.

About 40% of Samarco’s workforce was expected to accept voluntary redundancy packages to adjust staff numbers with the expected production levels.

Meanwhile, BHP Billiton said it would appeal the $6.2-billion civil claim that was reinstated by the Superior Court of Justice on June 30.

The civil claim was suspended on March 2, when Samarco, Vale and BHP Billiton Brasil reached a court-ratified $2.3-billion framework agreement with three tiers of government for the restoration of the environment and communities affected by the slimes dam failure.

BHP Billiton COO Dean Dalla Valle, who has been overseeing BHP Billiton Brasil’s support for Samarco in its response to the tragedy, reiterated that the group believed the framework agreement set out the best way to respond to Brazil’s worst-ever environment disaster.

“Samarco employees and members of affected communities have been working incredibly hard to deliver the remediation projects in the framework agreement and over 90% of the projects have been initiated,” he said.