Vale expects to reach final agreement for Mariana dam reparations in first half of year

Mining company Vale expects to reach a final agreement with authorities for reparations for the collapse of the Samarco tailings dam by the end of the first half of this year, the company told Reuters in a statement on Wednesday. The collapse of the dam, which belonged to Samarco, a joint venture of Vale and BHP and located in the southeastern city of Mariana, caused a giant mudslide that killed 19 people and severely polluted the Rio Doce river, compromising the waterway to its outlet in the Atlantic Ocean.