Brazil dam disaster: judge freezes assets of miners BHP and Vale
by Reuters from on (#Y7X0)
Brazilian government holds the mining giants responsible for one of the nation's worst ever environmental disasters, and is demanding $5bn
A judge has frozen the Brazilian assets of mining giants BHP Billiton and Vale SA after determining their joint venture Samarco was unable to pay for widespread damage caused by the bursting of a dam at its mine last month.
In a ruling issued late on Friday, the judge in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais determined that Vale and BHP could be held responsible for the disaster at the iron ore mine, for which the government is demanding 20bn reais ($5bn) in compensation.
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