Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Millions of tonnes of waste were released in the dam's collapse

Brazilian prosecutors have filed homicide charges against 21 people a year after an iron ore mine disaster in the state of Minas Gerais.

They include several Brazilians, two Americans, a South African, an Australian, a Briton and a French man.

The accused were employed at the time by the companies involved - Brazil's Samarco and Vale, and BHP Billiton.

In November 2015 a mine dam burst, killing 19 people and polluting miles of Brazil's waterways.

According to the lead prosecutor in the case, Jose Leite Sampaio, the companies were aware there was a risk of collapse but ignored it. They immediately rejected the charges and said they would defend their staff.

Mr Sampaio accused Brazilian mining company Vale, Anglo-Australian giant BHP Billiton and iron ore producer Samarco, which they co-own, of pursuing profits rather than attending to safety.

"Security was always of secondary importance. The increase in production at Samarco sought to compensate for the falling value of the ore in order, not only to maintain, but also to boost profits and dividends," Mr Sampaio said in a televised news conference near the site of the disaster.

Support for accused

Vale said in a statement that it "vehemently rejects the charges" and that it would defend its staff members. It said the evidence showed there was no knowledge the dam could fail before the collapse.

BHP said it "rejects outright the charges against the company and the affected individuals. We will defend the charges against the company, and fully support each of the affected individuals in their defence."

Before the case can go to trial, the charges need to be approved by a judge.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Horses, mules and dogs got stuck in the mud, which travelled miles downstream

Millions of tonnes of muddy mine waste were released on 5 November 2015 when a dam collapsed. A village was flattened and drinking water was affected for hundreds of thousands of people. The sludge eventually pooled out into the Atlantic Ocean.

The disaster drew comparisons with the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, as the Brazilian authorities sought redress for the environmental devastation from the companies it deemed responsible.

Analysis: Daniel Gallas, South America Business Correspondent, Rio de Janeiro

The mining companies have managed to reach a deal with Brazil's environmental authorities to set up an institute that will help clean up the pollution and rebuild some communities for the next 10 years.

But prosecutors tasked with finding the guilty parties are less willing to compromise.

In a 273-page document, they blamed top managers, accusing them of merely using "bandages" to deal with a serious threat.

Prosecutors also want the accused to respond to a popular jury, assuming these charges get the go-ahead from the judge.

The companies responded by accusing prosecutors of ignoring the evidence against those claims.

As the Samarco tragedy approaches its first anniversary, it seems that this case will still drag on for years to come.

The accused include Ricardo Vescovi, who was chief executive of Samarco at the time of the disaster.

Under Brazilian law qualified homicide is similar to, but more serious than, a manslaughter charge. The accused, if found guilty, could face sentences of up to 54 years.</s>Brazilian prosecutors said on Thursday they charged 22 people, 21 of them for qualified homicide, for their roles in the collapse of a tailings dam at the Samarco iron ore mine last November that killed 19 people.

Executives of the company, owned by Vale SA and BHP Billiton, had clear awareness that the dam could fail but put profit over safety, prosecutors told a press conference in Belo Horizonte that was broadcast live by GloboNews.</s>MELBOURNE (dpa-AFX) - Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton plc (BHP.AX, BLT.L, BBL, BHP) has rejected criminal charges by Brazilian prosecutors filed against the company and its current and former employees in relation to last year's fatal Samarco dam disaster, which killed 19 people.



BHP Billiton Brasil said it will defend the charges against the company, and fully support each of the Affected Individuals in their defence of the charges against them.



BHP Billiton Brasil said, 'We are yet to receive formal notification of these proceedings.'



Brazilian prosecutors have charged 26 people in connection with the Samarco mine disaster. Of those charged, 21 have been accused of qualified homicide. They include several Brazilians, two Americans, a South African, an Australian, a Briton and a French man. The accused were employed at the time by the companies involved - Brazil's Samarco and Vale, and BHP Billiton.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX</s>RIO DE JANEIRO — Prosecutors charged 21 Brazilian and foreign mining executives with manslaughter and various environmental crimes Thursday, nearly a year after a mine dam burst killed 19 people and polluted hundreds of miles of rivers and streams.

The Attorney General's Office in the state of Minas Gerais said those charged are mostly Brazilians and also include American, Australian and British board members and directors at the Brazilian mining companies Samarco and Vale, and Australia's BHP Billiton.

Samarco is a joint venture of the two larger companies. Former CEO Ricardo Vescovi, current COO Kleber Luiz de Mendonca and others are accused of causing what many call South American nation's worst environmental disaster. All three companies issued statements denying the charges.

Federal prosecutor Jose Adercio Leite Sampaio alleged that experts told executives, board members and other company officials that the basin of mine dump could burst, but they chose to ignore the danger and continue extracting from the rich iron ore deposit to compensate for falling commodities prices.

"They deliberately prioritized money over safety," Sampaio said in a news conference. "They knew there were problems and did not make the decisions that could have improved safety."

When the dam ruptured it flooded the area with some 40 million cubic meters of waste, and prosecutors also filed environmental charges related to the death of animal life.

Prosecutors said they found an internal company document from the breach that estimated such an accident could cause 20 deaths and serious environmental damage and interrupt business for up to two years.

In a statement, Samarco, which is also appealing seven fines handed down by the Environment Ministry, insisted the companies did not know the dam was in danger of collapsing.

It argued that the Attorney General's Office disregarded evidence and testimony "proving the company had no prior knowledge of risks to its structure."

Vale also said its executives at Samarco were never informed of anomalies that "could present real risks" in the basin and promised to prove their innocence in court.

BHP Billiton rejected the charges and said it would "fully support each of the affected individuals in their ."

The companies also face a class-action lawsuit seeking $43 billion in social, environmental and economic damages. Prosecutors said they arrived at that amount by comparing it to the cost of repairing damage from BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.</s>The charges follow what is now considered to be the largest environmental disaster in Brazil's history. The dam collapse released millions of tonnes of muddy mine waste, wiping out several small communities.

Samarco, its co-owners Vale SA and BHP Billiton Ltd, and Brazilian engineering company VOGBR Recursos Hidricas e Geotechnica Ltd which certified the dam's safety, were charged with environmental crimes.

BHP, Vale and Samarco officials said in statements they rejected the charges.

Prosecutor Jose Adericido Leite Sampaio told reporters at a briefing in Belo Horizonte, broadcast live by GloboNews, that executives at Samarco had clear awareness the dam could fail but ignored the risks and prioritized profit.

If convicted the accused, who include 16 Brazilians, two Americans, a South African, an Australian and a French citizen, could face sentences of up to 54 years, prosecutors said. The former chief executive of Samarco, Ricardo Viscovi, is among the accused.

Under Brazil's criminal code, qualified homicide is homicide aggravated by certain factors.

Following the dam collapse, thick red sludge flowed into one of Brazil's main rivers, the Rio Doce, killing fish and fouling water supplies for hundreds of kilometers before reaching the Atlantic ocean.

Before the case goes to trial, the charges need to be approved by a judge. Prosecutors filed the charges with a judge in Belo Horizonte, Brazil earlier in the day.

"These people were murdered," Eduardo Santos de Oliveira, one of the prosecutors in the case, said of those who died.

Vale said in a statement that it would vigorously defend its executives and employees against the charges and that evidence shows that there was no knowledge that the dam could fail before the disaster occurred.

BHP said it has not been formally advised of the proceedings and that it rejects outright the charges against the company and those individuals who have been charged.</s>SYDNEY: BHP Billiton chairman Jac Nasser is to step down next year after delaying his departure from the world’s biggest miner to take charge of the fatal Brazil mine collapse.

Nasser, 68, who has headed up the Anglo-Australian firm since 2010 and been on its board for a decade, said he would not seek re-election as chairman at next year’s annual meeting. No successor was announced.

“Last year, I had intended to announce my retirement from the board. However, the board believed it was important that I continue on as chairman to provide stability as we responded to Samarco (mine collapse),” Nasser told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting in London on Thursday.

“Now that the basic structure of the Samarco response is in place, the findings of the expert panel have been published, the compensation and remediation programmes have been initiated, and with BHP Billiton in robust shape, I have decided that I will not seek re-election at next year’s AGM.”

The news came as Brazilian federal prosecutors Thursday announced homicide charges against 21 people including senior mining executives over the collapse of the Samarco mine dam, where 19 lives were lost in the South American nation’s worst environmental disaster.

Samarco—which is co-owned by BHP and Brazilian mining giant Vale— is also facing billions of dollars in legal claims for clean-up costs and damages.</s>* CEO says aspirational goal for "gender balance" at all levels

LONDON, Oct 20 BHP Billiton Chairman Jac Nasser will not seek re-election at next year's annual general meeting, he announced on Thursday, saying after 10 years at the top and overseeing the initial response to the Samarco dam disaster, it was time to retire.

Nasser said he had intended to resign last year but agreed to stay on at the world's biggest miner to provide stability as BHP responded to the disaster in Brazil.

Now the "basic structure of the Samarco response is in place," Nasser said in a speech at this year's Annual General Meeting (AGM), he would not seek re-election, but would carry on leading the board in the interim.

BHP's Chief Executive Andrew Mackenzie in a separate speech said the company had set a 2025 goal of achieving "gender balance at all levels of the organisation over the next decade".

The 12-strong board has three women members.

Mackenzie declined to be drawn on whether there might be any particular considerations in deciding the new chairman, saying the board was engaged in an ongoing succession process.

Asked whether the new chairman might be a chairwoman, Nasser said "why not?" but he would not insist on a woman, adding changing the gender balance would take time.

As someone who grew up in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, Nasser, 68, said he had never expected to lead global companies.

He was named chairman of BHP in August 2009 and had joined the board as non-executive director in 2006.

Before that, he was CEO of Ford, where his reputation as a cost-cutter earned him the nickname "Jac the Knife".

At BHP, Nasser experienced the China-led commodities boom and the bust, which the company had weathered better than peers, he said.

"We kept a solid A credit rating through the valley of the commodity price death," he said.

BHP had been ahead in enforcing a shift away from unfettered spending to a focus on productivity and efficiency, he added.

Nasser said he hadn't given much thought to what he would do next, but it was the right time to move.

"Whenever you join a board, I think you always have some timeframe in mind. My timeframe was in the order of 9 to 10 years," he said.

His last year has been what he described as "one of the most challenging periods" in BHP's history, largely because of the Samarco dam burst in which 19 people died. Samarco is a 50/50 joint venture between BHP and Brazil's Vale.

Brazilians impacted by what Brazil says is its worst environmental disaster were among those who staged a protest outside Thursday's AGM in central London.

Mackenzie said the company was working flat out to rectify the damage and compensate those affected. (Additional reporting by Mamidipudi Soumithri in Bengaluru; Editing by David Goodman and David Evans)</s>The former Ford Motor Co chief, nicknamed Jac the knife after extensive cost-cutting efforts there, said he had intended to leave BHP last year, but agreed to stay on to provide stability as the world's biggest miner responded to the deadly Samarco dam disaster in Brazil.

Now that the "basic structure of the Samarco response is in place," Nasser said in a speech at this year's Annual General Meeting, he would not seek re-election. He will carry on leading the board in the interim, while a replacement is found.

Brazilian prosecutors on Thursday charged 21 people with "qualified homicide" for their roles in the disaster, including the former chief executive of Samarco.

Nasser's move marks a generational shift in the mining industry, which over the past decade has seen an unprecedented boom, frenzied M&A and draconian cost cuts.

Rio Tinto, the world's second-largest miner, is also expected to replace its chairman, South African Jan du Plessis, in the coming months.

"(Nasser) was ready to go but then Samarco happened ... so it's not coming as a surprise," said Macquarie Bank mining analyst Hayden Bairstow.

Both miners could look within their ranks or outside for a successor. Both will also consider an appointment that would diversify traditionally male-heavy boards.

BHP's Chief Executive Andrew Mackenzie, in a separate speech, said the company had set a 2025 goal of achieving "gender balance at all levels of the organization".

The target is higher than that set by the Australian Institute of Directors, which is calling for 30 percent female representation on boards by 2018.

BHP's 12-person board has three women members: Anita Frew, Carolyn Hewson and Shriti Vadera.

Frew is chairman designate of Croda International Plc, the specialty chemicals group, and deputy chairman of Lloyds Banking Group Plc.

Hewson is a former investment banker and an executive director of Schroders Australia Ltd. Shriti is chairman of Santander UK.

Asked whether the new chairman might be a chairwoman, Nasser said "why not?", but added gender balance would take time.

Growing up in suburban Melbourne, Australia, Nasser, 68, said he had never expected to lead global companies.

He joined the BHP board as a non-executive director in 2006 and was named chairman in August 2009.

At BHP, Nasser rode the China-led commodities boom and its bust, which the company had weathered better than peers, he said. BHP still lost $6.4 billion in the last financial year.

"We kept a solid A credit rating through the valley of the commodity price death," he said.

His last year has been what he described as "one of the most challenging periods" in BHP's history, largely because of the Samarco dam burst in which 19 people died. Samarco is a 50/50 joint venture between BHP and Brazil's Vale.

Nasser displayed a softer side last year at the Australian annual meeting in Perth when he vowed to "find out what went wrong" at Samarco, as Mackenzie teared up by his side.

Brazilians impacted by what Brazil says is its worst environmental disaster were among those who staged a protest outside Thursday's AGM in central London.
Brazilian prosecutors file homicide charges against 21 people employed by the companies Samarco, Vale, and BHP Billiton for the November 2015 iron ore mine dam burst in the state of Minas Gerais that killed 19 people and polluted waterways.