The London court overseeing the case of those affected by the Mariana disaster (MG) against miner BHP has determined the postponement of the trial that was set to begin in October 2026. With the decision, the hearings will take place starting in April 2027.
The disaster occurred in 2015 when a dam operated by Samarco, a joint venture between the Australian BHP and the Brazilian Vale, ruptured – and the mine tailings buried the district of Bento Rodrigues in Mariana. The Doce River was contaminated and 19 people died.
These hearings will cover the proof and quantification of the damages caused by the disaster. The victims’ office, Pogust Goodhead (PG), had requested that the hearings begin in January. BHP asked that they be postponed until July.
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In a note, BHP said that “it understands that the new schedule suggested by the English office is impracticable and, therefore, proposed a new date that allows to accommodate a new schedule and a more realistic trial period (and in line with the case’s complexity)”. The requests were made before the preparatory hearing on Wednesday, the 4th.
Moreover, the victims’ lawyers confirmed that those who received compensation payments in Brazil, with full settlement, should be excluded from the proceedings in the United Kingdom.
BHP estimated that approximately 240,000 claimants in the English process – or 40% of the total – fall into this category. This would reduce the number of claimants from 620,000 to 380,000. When contacted, the PG did not reveal its expectations.
The exclusion of the action of claimants benefited in Brazil occurs because the English Court, in the decision on BHP’s liability issued in November 2025, recognized the compensation programs implemented in Brazil since 2015 and confirmed the validity of the settlements signed by those affected by the dam rupture.
“The parties continue to discuss the details of the formal procedure for excluding these claimants. This issue could, indeed, be addressed at today’s or this week’s hearing. This reinforces, once again, the importance of the work carried out over the last ten years in Brazil,” said BHP in a note.
“Samarco, with the support of BHP Brasil and Vale, continues to implement the New Doce River Agreement signed with Brazilian authorities in October 2024, which secured a sum of R$ 170 billion. In total, more than 610,000 people have already received compensation and financial assistance since the dam’s rupture.”
The mining company stated that, in parallel, it will file an appeal with the Court of Appeal against the liability ruling, whose verdict was announced on November 14.
