Australian mining company BHP Billiton has announced that it has approved a total of US$211 million in financial support for the Renova Foundation, set up to repair, restore and rebuild communities impacted by the collapse of the Fundão dam of its Brazilian pellet producer joint venture Samarco in 2015, and also for Samarco in the period up to December 31.
BHP stated that the amount of US$158 million will be used to fund the Renova Foundation for remediation and compensation programs identified under the framework agreement dated March 2, 2016, signed between Samarco and its shareholders, Brazilian miner Vale and BHP’s subsidiary BHP Billiton Brasil and the Federal Prosecutors’ Office in Brazil in relation to the Samarco dam failure.
Meanwhile, a short-term facility of up to $53 million will be made available to Samarco to carry out ongoing repair works, maintain Samarco's facilities and support restart planning. Funds will be released to Samarco only as required, and subject to achievement of key milestones.