BHP Billiton agrees extension for Samarco talks

BHP Billiton said its Samarco joint venture had agreed an extended timeline for negotiating almost $54bn (£41bn) of claims related to devastation caused by a collapsed dam in Brazil.

The world's biggest mining company said it had reached a preliminary agreement with Brazilian prosecutors on the process for settling claims of $47.6bn and $6.1bn linked to the Samarco disaster in 2015.

The settlement date, which last month was pushed back to 16 November, has been extended once more, to 20 April 2018. The amended agreement, subject to approval by a Brazilian court, brings Brazilian prosecutors into the preliminary agreement for settling the claims.

Along with Brazilian company Vale, BHP is the joint owner of Samarco, a mining company whose dam in Brazil's Bento Rodrigues district collapsed in 2015, killing 19 people and destroying two towns.