London’s High Court ruled this Friday that BHP was liable for the 2015 collapse of the Marianas (MG) Fundandum, which plaintiffs’ lawyers had previously valued at up to £36 billion (US$48 billion).
Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians, dozens of municipalities and around 2,000 companies have sued BHP over the collapse of the Fundon dam in Mariana, Minas Gerais, which was owned and operated by the Samarco joint venture between BHP and Vale.
The breach, Brazil’s worst environmental disaster, triggered a debris flow that killed 19 people, left thousands homeless, flooded forests and polluted the entire length of the Doce River all the way to the Espírito Santo Sea.
A separate lawsuit against Vale was filed in a Dutch court in 2024 on behalf of around 1,000 companies and more than 77,000 people affected by the dam collapse.
In her judgment, Judge Finola O’Farrell said that continuing to raise the dam’s height when it was unsafe was the “direct and proximate cause” of the dam structure’s collapse, and that BHP was liable under Brazilian law.
BHP has appealed the decision and said it will continue to pursue litigation.
Brandon Craig, president of BHP Minerals Americas, said in a statement that 240,000 plaintiffs in the London case have “already received compensation in Brazil.”
“We believe this will significantly reduce the scale and value of claims in the UK class action,” he added.
Marina Calero, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said there was considerable uncertainty about which claims would be considered valid, and a final resolution was unlikely to be completed before 2030.
“Based on BHP’s estimates, which overlap with Brazil’s compensation system, Vale and BHP could each face additional payments of approximately $2.2 billion,” Calero said in the memo.
Following Friday’s decision, Vale estimated that an additional provision of approximately US$500 million will be recorded in its 2025 financial statements for liabilities arising from the dam collapse.
Victims celebrate important decision
Gervana Rodríguez da Silva, whose 7-year-old son Thiago died in the disaster, said in a statement: “Justice is finally being served and those responsible are held accountable for destroying our lives.”
“The judge’s decision confirms what we have been saying for the past 10 years: this was not an accident and BHP must be held accountable for its actions,” he added.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs accused BHP, the world’s largest mining company by market capitalization, of “cynically and persistently” trying to avoid liability during the blockbuster trial that began in October.
BHP disputes liability, saying the London proceedings overlap with its litigation and compensation and indemnity program in Brazil.
In the first week of the trial, Brazil entered into a 170 billion reais (US$31 billion) compensation agreement with BHP, Vale and Samarco, with BHP saying that almost US$12 billion had been spent on compensation, compensation and payments to public authorities since 2015.
Following Friday’s decision, BHP said the Brazilian agreement should reduce the size of the London case by about half.
A second trial to determine the amount of damages BHP must pay is scheduled to begin in October 2026.
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