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BHP PLC on Monday took a hit as a British court denied the oil company permission to appeal an earlier ruling which found BHP liable for its role in the collapse of Brazil’s Fundao dam. The Melbourne, Australia-based fuel major was looking to appeal the High Court’s judgement that its ‘negligence, imprudence and/or lack of skill’ had caused the disaster, noted law firm Pogust Goodhead, which represented the claimants against BHP. In November 2015, the Fundao dam, located in Brazil’s Mariana mining prospect, gave way, killing 19 people and destroying surrounding villages. This original liability trial took place between October 2024 and March 2025. A Stage 1 decision was handed down in November by Justice O’Farrell DBE, who also decided against permission to appeal, thereby backing the findings of a Brazilian court. O’Farrell said in her judgement that BHP’s ‘appeal has no real prospect of success’. ‘Although the judgement may be of interest to other parties in other jurisdictions, it is a decision on issues of Brazilian law established as fact in this jurisdiction, together with factual and expert evidence.’ Pogust Goodhead had argued against an appeal on the basis ‘that BHP’s approach was, in substance, an attempt to secure a retrial.’ The oil firm now has 28 days to apply to the Court of Appeal. If permission is refused in the Court of Appeal, or after any appeal is determined, it must pay the claimants an agreed £43 million settlement within 30 days. That amount was determined in the Stage 1 decision, and relates to trial costs for Stage 1 of the case only, noted Pogust Goodhead. It is a fraction of the original £113.5 million the claimants had sought, which was in itself down from the £189 million they claimed in damages. The decade since the dam’s collapse has seen residents continue to suffer pollution due to what they consider insufficient clean-up efforts by the mining companies which had exploited the region’s resources. Monica dos Santos, a resident of Bento Rodrigues in Mariana commented: ‘It is unacceptable that, after so much suffering and so many lives interrupted, the company is still trying to delay the process to escape its responsibility.’ Pogust Goodhead Partner Jonathon Wheeler said that in seeking to appeal the Stage 1 judgement, BHP ‘shows it continues to treat this as a case to be managed, not a humanitarian and environmental disaster that demands a just outcome. Every further procedural manoeuvre brings more delay, more cost and more harm.’ BHP is scheduled to return to court for a Stage 2 trial in October, which will address compensation for individuals, businesses and communities impacted by the Fundao disaster. The company’s shares closed down 0.5% at A$48.75 on Monday in Sydney. They were down 0.3% at 2,412.00 pence at midday on Monday in London and traded marginally higher at R 531.70 in Johannesburg. Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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