More than two dozen people still missing following BHP’s dam failure in Brazil

Chief Executive of the BHP Billiton Ltd Andrew Mackenzie flew to Brazil on Monday to face prosecutors who are seeking the suspension of its iron-ore ventures licences as more than two dozen people are reportedly still missing, days after the dam in Minas Gerais broke. After two of the dams failed and flooded nearby villages, a third dam has been put under monitoring, said BHP.

Two deaths have been confirmed by rescue workers, but around 28 people, 13 of whom are mine workers, are still missing. According to the local Brazilian media, who has termed the disaster a “mud-tsunami,” the tragedy has affected villages that are around 100 km away from the mine.

BHP, along with partner Vale SA, will have to fork out damages compensations to the victims who lost their homes and properties as a result of the dam failure that occurred on Nov. 5. According to Deutsche Bank AG, the amount of the payouts for the Samarco Mineracao SA, the joint venture of the Melbourne-based mining giant and Vale SA, is likely to exceed $1 billion.

“We will recommend the state secretary to suspend the license for the whole enterprise until its compliance is assessed and safety for communities is guaranteed,” Bloomberg quoted Carlos Eduardo Pinto, a prosecutor in Mariana, as saying. “We filed a public civil investigation into an event that caused the most environmental damage in the history of our state.”

Paul Young, a Deutsche Bank analyst said it might take as late as 2019 for the site to reopen. “If they were to restart, they would have to rebuild a tailings dam and I think that to do that the permitting would take more than a year,” Bloomberg quoted him as saying. “The building would also take more than a year.”

Mackenzie will also meet the authorities, Samarco’s response team, as well as the local community members to understand the extent of damage the incident has caused.

A dam containing waste-water from the Samarco iron-ore mine located to the south eastern Brazil broke on Thursday, flooding villages downhill and causing huge damages to properties.

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