By Jeffrey T. Lewis 
 

SAO PAULO--Vale SA and BHP Billiton Ltd., the owners of Brazilian mining company Samarco Mineracao SA, said Monday they agreed with Brazilian authorities to suspend for two years a 155 billion real ($41 billion) civil claim over the catastrophic 2015 collapse of a tailings dam while talks continue.

The companies and prosecutors are also requesting the dismissal of a 20 billion real civil claim.

The agreement, which still has to be approved by the federal government, establishes a fund to pay for clean-up costs, remediation and compensation for impacts related to the failure of the dam, BHP Billiton and Vale said in notes. The companies didn't say how much money would be in the fund.

The dam, owned by Samarco and located in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, collapsed in November 2015 resulting in the deaths of 19 people and polluting more than 400 miles of waterways.

Write to Jeffrey T. Lewis at jeffrey.lewis@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 25, 2018 17:25 ET (21:25 GMT)