Australian mining giant BHP says mud spilled by the devastating collapse of a dam at a Brazilian mine is not toxic. On Thursday the UN said the dam burst at the Samarco mine unleashed a flood equivalent to 20,000 Olympic swimming pools of toxic mud.
Investors continued to dump shares in mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd. following the deadly dam burst last week at its jointly owned iron-ore mine in Brazil, even as the company sought to clarify responsibility for the disaster that has already claimed the lives of three people.
Mud and wastewater from burst dams at a Brazilian iron ore mine cut off drinking water and raised health and environmental concerns in cities more than 300 km downstream on Monday, amid increasingly dire search efforts in a village devastated by the mudslides.
President Cristina Fernández announced on Thursday the development of a mining project between Neuquén, Mendoza and Río Negro provinces which will led by Brazilian company Vale, and is expected to become the largest potassium mining site in the world.
Brazil has a plan to bolster subsidized credit aimed at increasing corporate investment with 45 billion Real (approx 22.5 billion dollars) from the country’s development bank, BNDES.