Vale, BHP, Samarco Ordered to Ante up $354 mln for Dam Burst

Brazilian iron ore mining joint venture Samarco Mineração SA and its controllers Vale SA and BHP Billiton Ltd have 30 days to make a deposit of 1.2 billion reais ($354 million) to fund preparatory measures after last year's dam disaster, Vale said on Friday.

According to a securities filing, a Brazilian federal court ruled that the companies have 90 days to prove that the Mariana dam burst has been fully contained. Over the next six months, they will have to present plans to clean up the remaining waste that spewed from the Samarco mine.

Reporting by Bruno Federowski