By Paul Kiernan 

RIO DE JANEIRO--Brazil's government plans to sue mining giants Vale SA, BHP Billiton Ltd. and their joint venture Samarco Mineração SA for 20 billion Brazilian reais ($5.3 billion) in response to a catastrophic dam failure earlier this month, officials said on Friday.

The civil suit was expected to be filed Monday, a spokeswoman for the Environment Ministry said. The proceeds are intended to create a fund to help recovery efforts in the Rio Doce, a major river that was contaminated with mud and toxic metals in the wake of the Nov. 5 collapse of Samarco's dam in Minas Gerais state.

Write to Paul Kiernan at paul.kiernan@wsj.com

 

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 27, 2015 15:52 ET (20:52 GMT)

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