Brazil’s Lula says deal with Vale on Mariana disaster ‘90% done’

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Friday that a deal with miner Vale for reparations over the 2015 Mariana tailings dam disaster is 90% done and final details should be hammered out soon.

Why it’s important

Vale, BHP and their joint venture Samarco have presented Brazilian authorities with an offer totaling 140 billion reais ($25.18 billion) to settle reparations over the dam collapse at a Samarco mine in Mariana, Minas Gerais state.

The offer unveiled earlier this month was less than the government’s target, but Vale has expressed hope that a “consensus” would be achieved by the end of this month with federal and state authorities.

Key quotes

“Yesterday I asked my mines and energy minister what the status of the Vale deal was, and he told me it was 90% resolved,” Lula told a local radio station. “He will present it to me in the next week or two so we can close this deal.”

“Vale, let’s be honest, has been stalling on the people of Mariana,” Lula added.

Additional context

The November 2015 collapse of a tailings dam at a Samarco mine in the town of Mariana caused a wave of toxic tailings that killed 19 people. It left hundreds homeless, flooded forests and polluted the entire length of the Doce River.

Vale declined to comment on Lula’s remarks but said it was committed to reaching a deal that guarantees “fair and full compensation” to those affected.

($1 = 5.5609 reais)

(By Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Richard Chang)