The Brazilian Federal Court of Minas Gerais has extended the negotiation period for settlement of civil claims between Brazilian iron ore miner and pellet producer Samarco over the 2015 tailings dam failure. The court has now ordered that the parties reach a final agreement by 20 April 2018. This is confirmed by Samarco shareholders Australia’s BHPB and Brazil’s Vale in notices on their respective websites, monitored by Kallanish.

Samarco, Vale and BHP had reached a preliminary deal with the Brazilian Federal Prosecutor to settle a civil claim on 18 January (see Kallanish passim). Production at the mine has been halted since November 2015, after a tailings dam burst which killed 19 people and flooded areas in two states in southeastern Brazil.

Meanwhile, Samarco has agreed with a proposal by local trade unions to implement a voluntary redundancy program for its employees, the company says in a statement. This follows a plan by Samarco to reduce the number of its workers from 1,735 to 1,135 by December.

“The purpose of the measure is to minimise the effects of layoffs that are necessary due to the tense situation of the company. The company aims to resume activities with 26% of its operational capacity,” says Samarco. The miner adds however that it cannot say when it will restart its operations.

Workers who accept the voluntary redundancy agreement will receive an indemnity, and be offered a six month health plan amongst other benefits. “If the program does not achieve the adhesion goal of 600 employees, the company will proceed to an involuntary redundancy plan by December,” the miner adds.

Samarco had also extended the temporary suspension of work contracts for nearly 800 employees for an additional five months as from November 2017 to March 2018.