Mining companies Vale and BHP, together with their joint venture Samarco, may soon reach an agreement with Brazilian authorities to pay around 100-billion reais ($17.87-billion) for the collapse of a dam in the city of Mariana, said four sources familiar with the discussions.
Three of the sources expect a final agreement to be reached in October.
The amount is more than the 82-billion reais in new resources offered in the companies’ last proposal in June to compensate for the 2015 disaster, which caused a wave of toxic tailings that killed 19 people, left hundreds homeless, flooded forests and polluted a river.