BHP will face a London High Court hearing from April 2027 to decide damages for the 2015 Brazil dam collapse that killed 19 and caused major environmental and health damage. The High Court ruled BHP 'strictly liable' after a lengthy trial, and the compensation phase is scheduled to run through March 2028. Plaintiffs' lawyers say about 380,000 claimants remain in the UK action after many accepted settlements in Brazil; BHP contends roughly 240,000 claims should be discontinued.
BHP Faces London Damages Trial Over 2015 Brazil Mine Collapse — Compensation Phase Starts April 2027
Marilda Lyrio de Oliveira, an Indigenous leader from the area affected by the 2015 Mariana mine dam disaster in Brazil, is pictured outside Britain's High Court in London (ADRIAN DENNIS)(ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/AFP)
Australian mining giant BHP will face a British High Court hearing from April 2027 to determine how much it must pay victims of a 2015 dam collapse in Brazil. The disaster, one of Brazil's worst environmental catastrophes, killed 19 people and sent toxic sludge across villages, farmland, rainforest, rivers and the ocean.
Legal Ruling and Timeline
In November, the High Court in London ruled BHP 'strictly liable' after a lengthy trial that ran from October 2024 to March 2025. The court has set the compensation (damages) phase to begin in April 2027, with closing submissions scheduled for March 2028.
Who Is Involved
The mine involved was operated by Samarco, a joint venture co-owned by BHP and Brazilian miner Vale. Plaintiffs' lawyers from the firm Pogust Goodhead say more than 600,000 people were originally part of the litigation; many accepted 'full and final' settlements in Brazil and are therefore ineligible to recover further damages in the UK. That, they say, has reduced the number of claimants in the London action to about 380,000.
BHP, which reached a separate compensation agreement with Brazilian authorities in 2024, has argued that roughly 240,000 claimants in the UK proceedings should discontinue their claims because of prior settlements.
'We are demanding what is owed to us,' said Brazilian Indigenous leader Marilda Lyrio de Oliveira of Aracruz, Espirito Santo. 'We hope for a just outcome, because the impact was enormous, the crime was enormous.' She and other victims have reported long-term physical and mental health problems, including concerns about cancer and the loss of livelihoods.
'The suffering was so immense that it shattered our lives and interrupted our dreams,' said Ana Paula Auxiliadora Alexandre, who lost her husband in the tragedy. 'For 10 years, we fought for justice.'
Stakes
Claimants originally sought around £36 billion in compensation. The damages phase in London will determine the scale of payouts and could have significant implications for corporate accountability and future cross-border litigation involving environmental disasters.
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