Less Sludge Spilled at Samarco than Originally Estimated

Reuters reported that less sludge than originally estimated was spilled at the Samarco tailings dam burst last November. Samarco is a Brazilian iron ore mine that’s co-owned by BHP Billiton Ltd. (ASX:BHP,LSE:BLT,NYSE:BHP).
As quoted in the market news:

Satellite assessments showed about 32 million cubic meters of sludge was released into the Rio Doce river, BHP said, citing information from mine operator Samarco, its joint venture with Brazil’s Vale VALE5.SA.
“The amount of tailings released is therefore significantly less than some initial estimates which were in excess of 50 million cubic meters,” BHP said. The early estimates suggested the mine tailings could have filled more than 20,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
The dam burst left hundreds homeless in Brazil’s worst environmental disaster for which the government is seeking 20 billion reais ($5 billion) in damages and seeking to hold BHP and Vale responsible for any amount that Samarco cannot pay.
The latest Samarco report showed about 85 percent of the sludge stayed within 85 km (53 miles) of the burst dam, while the recovery effort has found fish alive in the Rio Doce in a 670 km (416 mile) stretch of the river out to where it flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

Click here to read the full Reuters report.