BHP Billiton says reviewing two other mining ventures after Brazil dam disaster

By Eric Onstad
LONDON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - BHP Billiton BLT.L said on
Monday it is reviewing two other mining joint ventures, in Peru
and Colombia, following a dam disaster at an iron ore mine in
Brazil, which it jointly owns with Vale SA VALE5.SA .
BHP BHP.AX told analysts and investors it was examining
the structures of its Cerrejón coal joint venture in Colombia
and its Antamina copper/zinc JV in Peru after the Brazil
disaster.
Two dams collapsed on Nov. 5 in southeast Brazil, killing
nine people and coating a two-state area with mud and mine
waste.
The Brazilian mine is owned and operated by Samarco
Mineração SA, a joint venture of Anglo-Australian BHP and
Brazil's Vale.
"We will look into, for our own benefit ... the arrangements
that we have at Samarco which mirror similar arrangements we
have at Antamina and Cerrejón," BHP Chief Executive Andrew
Mackenzie told a conference call.
BHP has two types of joint ventures where it does not
operate the mines, he added, according to a transcript of his
comments released by the company.
Under some ventures, mostly in its petroleum business,
another party is the operator, while in Samarco, Cerrejón and
Antamina, there is a standalone company that is jointly owned.
"That (second type) is the kind of arrangement we need to
review and have been reviewing, to be honest, to decide ...
whether a more petroleum-type model might be more appropriate in
the future."
Cerrejón in Colombia, one of the world's largest open pit
coal mines, is owned equally by BHP, Anglo American AAL.L and
Glencore GLEN.L .
Antamina is Peru's biggest copper and zinc mine. BHP and
Glencore each have 33.75 percent stakes, while Teck Resources
TCKb.TO holds 22.5 percent and Mitsubishi Corp 8058.T 10
percent.
Last week, Brazil's president slapped preliminary fines of
250 million Brazilian reais ($65 mln) against Samarco, and
Brazilian federal prosecutors also announced plans to work with
state prosecutors to investigate possible crimes that could have
contributed to the disaster. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N13723X
So far there have been nine deaths, BHP said on Friday,
citing Samarco. State authorities said 19 people were still
missing and most were likely buried in the heavy trail of
sediment that was disgorged when the dams burst. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1381GO

($1 = 3.8241 Brazilian reais)