BHP Executive Handling Brazil Dam Disaster Fallout to Leave
27 October 2016 - 8:20AM
Dow Jones News
SYDNEY—BHP Billiton Ltd. said Chief Commercial Officer Dean
Dalla Valle, who was earlier this year tasked with leading the
miner's response to a deadly dam failure in Brazil, will leave the
company.
Mr. Dalla Valle, who has worked for the mining giant for roughly
four decades, will step down at the end of March, the company said
on Thursday.
The former marketing and coal business chief relocated to Brazil
amid a management reshuffle, announced in February, to handle the
fallout from the catastrophic Nov. 5 dam collapse at Samarco
Mineraç ã o SA, a joint venture with Vale SA.
The disaster killed 19 people and polluted hundreds of miles of
rivers. Recently, Brazilian federal prosecutors filed homicide
charges against 21 people in connection with the event. Former and
current BHP executives were among those charged, but not Mr. Dalla
Valle.
Last week, BHP Chairman Jac Nasser also said he would step down
in 2017, with the former CEO of Ford Motor Co. saying he had
planned to announce his retirement last year but decided to stay
due to the tailings dam disaster.
Mr. Nasser said "the basic structure of the Samarco response" is
now in place.
On Thursday, BHP said it would "centralize the management of
Samarco alongside the group's other major minerals non-operated
joint ventures in the Minerals Americas portfolio."
Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 27, 2016 03:05 ET (07:05 GMT)
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