BHP Billiton and Samarco have issued updates on the incident which occurred at the Samarco Mineração iron ore operation in Minas Gerais, Brazil on 5 November 2015.
The Samarco operations include a three tiered tailings dam complex. Within this the Fundão dam failed and the downstream Santarém dam has been affected. This resulted in a significant release of mine tailings, flooding the community of Bento Rodrigues and impacting other communities downstream. The third dam in the complex, the Germano dam, is being monitored by Samarco. At this time, there is no confirmation of the causes of the tailings release.
All possible measures are reported as being taken in order to mitigate the environmental consequences along the Rio Doce. Water samples are being collected in the affected river stretches and will continue until normalisation of the situation. Samarco re-iterated that the mining material is inert and nontoxic.
BHP Billiton's Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Mackenzie, is travelling to Brazil to fully comprehend the human, environmental and operational impacts of the incident. The company says it has offered its full support to help the immediate rescue efforts and to assist with the investigation; with immediate priority being the welfare of the workforce and the local communities.
Details are still emerging in relation to the Samarco employees and contractors impacted by the incident. As of 9 November, Samarco advised that there is at least one confirmed fatality with a further 13 members of the workforce missing. Local authorities have also reported that at this stage there are at least 15 people from the communities unaccounted for. Samarco says it will remain committed to assisting the people affected by the incident. In total, 612 people (162 families) are being housed by the company in hotels in the Mariana region.
“Right now, our priority is to support the rescue and care of those who were impacted," Samarco said in a statement. "Therefore, we inform the decision to grant paid leave to employees who are not directly involved in activities related to the accident."
