Venture operations under review

BHP BILLITON was reviewing joint venture operations and “implementing actions to enhance the management of our dams”, the company said yesterday, after a 10-month investigation into the devastating collapse of a tailings dam in Brazil found that design and construction issues were to blame for the disaster. A 76-page report found that a series of small seismic shocks on November 5, the day of the disaster at the Fundao tailings dam at Samarco in Minas Gerais, was likely to have accelerated the dam’s failure, but “the dam had reached a precarious state of stability”. The report into Brazil’s worst environmental disaster by a panel of four geotechnical specialists was commissioned by BHP Billiton and Vale, which co-owns the mine. Dean Dalla Valle, BHP Billiton’s chief commercial officer, said: “We are determined to learn from this tragedy.” – ANA