Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Diversified major BHP Billiton has reiterated its intention to defend itself against criminal charges relating to the Samarco disaster, which claimed the lives of 19 people.
Brazilian federal prosecutors last month filed criminal charges against BHP and its joint venture partner Vale, as well as 22 individuals, 21 of whom were charged with qualified homicide and environmental crimes.
Persons facing charges included former iron-ore chief Jimmy Wilson.
Speaking at BHP’s annual general meeting, outgoing chairperson Jac Nasser said that the company outright rejected the charges against itself and the affected individuals.
“We will defend the charges against the company and fully support the affected individuals in their defence of the charges against them,” he said.
Nasser told shareholders that since the dam wall failure in November last year, the company had taken a series of actions and made a number of commitments, including signing a framework agreement with the Brazilian government to establish 41 programmes to compensate the communities and restore the environment.
“A lot has been done in Brazil over the course of the year. But many challenges remain. Some of them will take years to resolve fully. There will be setbacks along the way, but let me be clear, we remain committed to doing the right thing,” he said.
Meanwhile, CEO Andrew Mackenzie told shareholders that the company continued to work with Vale on plans to restart the Samarco operation, saying it was important to the health of the local community and Brazil as a whole.
“But it has to make economic sense, and have a practical set of approvals in place, and we continue to work through these processes,” Mackenzie said.