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Joint Statement by Vale and BHP Billiton
BHP Billiton Plc
Registration number 3196209
Registered in England and Wales
Share code: BIL
ISIN: GB0000566504
12 November 2015
To: Australian Securities Exchange cc: New York Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange JSE Limited
JOINT STATEMENT BY VALE AND BHP BILLITON
BHP Billiton CEO, Andrew Mackenzie, and Vale CEO, Murilo Ferreira, gave a joint statement regarding the
incident at the Samarco joint venture iron ore operation in Minas Gerais, Brazil.
A copy of the joint statement is attached.
Further information on BHP Billiton can be found at www.bhpbilliton.com.
Rachel Agnew
Company Secretary
Sponsor: Merrill Lynch South Africa Proprietary Limited
BHP Billiton Limited ABN 49 004 028 077 BHP Billiton Plc Registration number 3196209
Registered in Australia Registered in England and Wales
Registered Office: 171 Collins Street Melbourne Victoria 3000 Registered Office: Neathouse Place, London SW1V 1LH United Kingdom
The BHP Billiton Group is headquartered in Australia
MEDIA RELEASE
Release Time IMMEDIATE
Date Mariana, Brazil: 11 November 2015
JOINT STATEMENT BY VALE AND BHP BILLITON
The below statement is attributable to the CEO of Vale, Murilo Ferreira,
and the CEO of BHP Billiton, Andrew Mackenzie:
Together with Jimmy Wilson, BHP Billiton President Iron Ore and Peter Poppinga, Vale
Executive Director, Ferrous Minerals, we spent this morning on site at the Samarco mine with
CEO, Ricardo Vescovi De Aragão, and meeting with community leaders.
Our immediate priority is to understand the full extent of the consequences of the tailings dam
breach and how we can provide further help.
We visited the tailings dam complex, including the site of the failed Fundão dam and affected
downstream Santarém dam as well as the Germano dam which is being closely-monitored by
Samarco.
We also met with the Samarco incident response teams and civil authorities who have worked
tirelessly to evacuate the local community and search for missing people.
On behalf of all of the employees of Vale and BHP Billiton, we offer our profound sympathies
to the family, friends and loved ones of the people who died as a result of this tragic incident.
We are deeply concerned for the welfare of the employees, contractors and members of the
local community who are still missing. Our thoughts are with you all in this distressing and
uncertain time.
We were overcome when we saw the devastation in and around Bento Rodrigues. We cannot
rebuild the lives of the families who have lost loved ones but we redouble our commitment to
Samarco to support the response effort.
As an immediate step, Vale and BHP Billiton pledge to support Samarco in creating an
Emergency Fund for rebuilding works and to help the affected families and communities. It is
our intention to work with the authorities to get this fund functioning as soon as practicable.
Vale and BHP Billiton also have health, safety, environment and geotechnical experts onsite
supporting Samarco’s response. We have also had discussions with Samarco and authorities
about the additional support we can provide. Investigations are continuing and Samarco will
provide further updates relating to the response and operations.
Again, as joint shareholders in Samarco, we would like to offer our sympathies and prayers to
the people of Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo and the people of Brazil.
Murilo Ferreira Andrew Mackenzie
Chief Executive Officer, Vale Chief Executive Officer, BHP Billiton
Further information on Vale can be found at: www.vale.com
Further information on BHP Billiton can be found at: www.bhpbilliton.com
BHP Billiton Media Relations Vale Media Relations
Australia Brazil
Emily Perry Monica Ferreira
Tel: +61 3 9609 2800 Mobile: +61 477 325 803 Tel: +55 21 3814 4360
Email: Emily.Perry@bhpbilliton.com Email: Monica.ferreira@vale.com
Paul Hitchins Fatima Cristina
Tel: + 61 3 9609 2592 Mobile: + 61 419 315 001 Tel: +55 21 3814 3168
Email: Paul.Hitchins@bhpbilliton.com Email: Fatima.cristina@vale.com
Emma Gilmour
Tel: +61 3 9609 2947 Mobile: +61 409 856 230
Email: Eleanor.Nichols@bhpbilliton.com
United Kingdom and Americas
Jennifer White
Tel: +44 20 7802 7462 Mobile: +44 7827 253 764
Email: Jennifer.White@bhpbilliton.com
Members of the BHP Billiton Group which is headquartered in Australia
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