PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mining giant BHP Billiton said on Monday that it had not yet received any formal notice of legal action from Brazil, after the country’s federal and certain state governments announced on Friday that a $5.2-billion legal claim would be instituted against the company, its joint venture (JV) partner, Vale, and the JV vehicle Samarco.

The legal action was reportedly to fund clean-up costs and damages following the November 5 tailings spill at the Samarco operation.

To date, 13 fatalities have been reported with a further six people remaining missing.

Operations at the Samarco project continue to remain suspended and clean-up work has started in the Barra Longa area, focusing on access roads, housing and bridge repairs.

BHP reported on Monday that both Samarco and local authorities also continued with their assessment and monitoring of water quality in the Rio Doce river system, and while a large number of fish had died owing to reduced oxygen uptake as a result of the spill, metal concentrate levels in the water system have remained unchanged, and that the tailings were composed of materials that were nonhazardous to human health.

The JV partners have previously said that they would set aside $260-million as an emergency fund to assist the community members affected by the spill.

A preliminary agreement with Brazilian prosecutors in Minas Gerais would guarantee that the funding would be used for a range of emergency measures related to prevention, mitigation, remediation, and compensation for environmental and social effects of the incident.

The JV partners on Friday also announced plans to establish a voluntary, non-profit fund to support the recovery of the Rio Doce river system.

The fund would initially be sponsored by Vale and BHP, but additional funding would be sought from other private, public and non-government organisations. The initial value of the fund was still being defined.

The fund would finance the rescue and recuperation effort of the river system, including the recomposition of riparian forest, water quality and aquatic fauna, as well as helping to rescue the biodiversity of the river basin.