UK Group Action

BHP Group Ltd and BHP Group (UK) Ltd (former BHP Group Plc) are defendants in a group action underway in the English Court, filed in 2018 by an English law firm. BHP is defending the claim.

Samarco
Against a backdrop of intense circulation of information, not always accurate, BHP Brasil reaffirms its commitment to transparency and to ensuring that affected people have access to correct and verified information regarding the current status of the Group Action filed in the United Kingdom in connection with the failure of the Fundão Dam, operated by Samarco Mineração S/A, which occurred in November 2015 in Mariana, Minas Gerais.

Current Status of the UK Group Action

 

*Reversal of the decision handed down in November 2020, which had struck out the claim.

Frequently asked questions
Why is BHP being sued in the United Kingdom?
A group action has been brought in the United Kingdom against BHP Group Ltd and BHP Group (UK) Ltd on behalf of Brazilian individuals and entities seeking compensation for alleged losses related to the 2015 failure of the Fundão Dam. The claim includes individuals, municipalities, religious institutions, private companies, utilities, and members of Indigenous and traditional communities.
What is the value of the claim?
So far, no court has defined compensation amounts - individual or collective - or the calculation methodology applicable to the UK proceedings. The assessment of loss and any determination of value will only take place in later stages of the case, based on evidence and criteria that have not yet been fully defined by the English Court.
Who are the current claimants?
Following a recent ruling by the English Court regarding releases signed in Brazil, the number of active claimants will reduce from approximately 620,000 to around 340,000 people and entities. This happened because the Court upheld full and final releases signed in Brazil by people who had already received full compensation there, preventing those claims from continuing in England.
What are the claimants seeking?
The claimants seek compensation for alleged losses arising from the dam failure, including individual and collective losses that, under the structure of the case, are assessed under Brazilian law. The UK proceedings have not created a separate legal basis for compensation, and the issues of loss and quantification remain tied to categories of damage and legal rules grounded in Brazilian law.
What is the current status of the proceedings?
The UK class action has been before the courts since 2018, and Phase 1, dealing with liability, was concluded by the High Court of Justice in London in November 2025. In that phase, BHP was found liable under Brazilian environmental and civil law, and later requests for permission to appeal were refused by both the High Court and the English Court of Appeal.
What happens next?
Phase 2 is scheduled to begin in April 2027 with the trial ending in March 2028. The phase will address categories of loss and the evidence required for quantification. After that, there will be a Phase 3, with no date yet set, focused on individual claims, when each claimant will need to prove the losses they allege.
Does this mean that all remaining claimants will receive compensation?
No. The fact that approximately 340,000 claimants remain in the proceedings does not mean that all of them will receive compensation. Criteria, methodology and individual proof of loss still need to be addressed, and the English Court has not yet established how that process will operate in practice.
Is there any guaranteed amount for people participating in the UK proceedings?
No. There is no court-defined guaranteed individual amount for people involved in the international proceedings. For that reason, figures circulated on social media, digital tools or third-party materials should be treated with caution, because they are not based on a final judicial determination.
Has the UK action already defined how compensation would be calculated?
No. There have been no decisions by the UK Court on whether losses claimed are recoverable (and, if so, how much). These are issues that will be considered in Phases 2 and 3 and are based exclusively on Brazilian law.
What compensation programmes are available in Brazil?
Alongside the UK proceedings, the New Rio Doce Agreement, ratified by Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court in November 2024, provides for reparation and compensation programmes operating in Brazil, including the Definitive Indemnification Programme (PID). From February 2025 to March 2026, more than 303,000 compensation payments were made, totaling R$11.2 billion, and the PID was reopened in May 2026 for new applications until 1 July 2026.
Why does BHP say that reparation in Brazil is the best avenue for impacted people?
The English Court itself upheld the validity of releases signed by people who had already received full compensation in Brazil, which will lead to the exclusion of around 240,000 claimants from the UK proceedings. For BHP Brasil, this supports the effectiveness of the reparation process under way in Brazil since 2015 and the relevance of the programmes established under the New Rio Doce Agreement.

Compensation programmes in Brazil

In parallel with the legal proceedings in the United Kingdom, the Integral Reparation Agreement ratified by Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) in November 2024 - the New Rio Doce Agreement - establishes concrete compensation programmes that are fully operational in Brazil, including the Definitive Indemnification Programme (PID).

From the beginning of the Programme in February 2025 through March 2026, more than 303,000 compensation payments were made, totalling R$11.2 billion. Following a request from Brazilian justice institutions, the programme was reopened in May 2026 and will remain available to eligible people for new applications until 1 July 2026. 

All information about the programme and its eligibility criteria can be found at samarco.com/indenizacao.